Untitled
by Margaret.Whitlock
Summary: Set 1 1/2 yrs after NM. Bella has accepted the Cullens' disappearance and moved on. But when she's thrown back into the supernatural world, will old feelings get in the way of true love and happiness? Rated M for some violence and possible lemons ;P
1. Prologue

**A/N: Hey guys! So this is my first ever fanfic, and first lemon! (eventually) :P so please, constructive critisism is accepted and encouraged! But no bashing for the sake of being mean, yeah? That's just rude, and I'll be forced to hunt you down and shove crayons up your nose. :)  
>Also I have no Beta, so any and all mistakes are mine and mine alone!<strong>

**Disclaimer: NO copyright infringement intended! Stephanie Meyer owns all characters (except a few OCs). And, of course, she owns me. But not literally. x)**

Prologue:

_**(New Moon Pg 358-359)**_

_**I stepped out to the edge, keeping my eyes on the empty space in front of me. My toes felt ahead blindly, caressing the edge of the rock when they encountered it. I drew in a deep breath and held it…waiting.**_

_**"Bella."**_

_**I smiled and exhaled.**_

**Yes? _I didn't answer out loud, for fear that the sound of my voice would shatter the beautiful illusion. He sounded so real, so close. It was only when he was disapproving like this that I could hear the true memory of his voice—the velvet texture and the musical intonation that made up the most perfect of all voices._**

_**"Don't do this," he pleaded.**_

**You wanted me to be human_, I reminded him. _Well, watch me.**

**_"Please. For me."_**

**But you won't stay with me any other way.**

**_"Please." It was just a whisper in the blowing rain that tossed my hair and drenched my clothes—making me as wet as if this were my second jump of the day._**

_**I rolled up onto the balls of my feet.**_

_**"No, Bella!" He was angry now, and the anger was so lovely.**_

_**I smiled and raised my arms straight out, as if I were going to dive, lifting my face into the rain. But it was too ingrained from years of swimming at the public pool—feet first, first time. I leaned forward, crouching to get more spring…**_

"You're wrong, you know." I froze, still crouched and tensed to jump. _What? _Whose voice was that? Perhaps I truly was going crazy now. But it seemed vaguely familiar…just as beautiful as Edward's, but deeper, that of a man rather than a teen, and with a slight hint of some sort of accent.

"I can feel what you're feeling now—and you _are_ worth it." My mind flashed back, what seemed like a lifetime, to that day when James and Victoria had ruined my more-or-less perfect life. After the face-off at the field and the following disaster at Charlie's, they had whisked me back to their home. They had made plans, _he_ had kissed me…and then Jasper and I had been left alone for the first time.

I recognized the voice now; I felt almost stupid for having not. He had spoken so sparsely, though, so I supposed it was not worth feeling guilty over. Besides, it wasn't like I'd ever see any of them again…

My heart broke all over again, the hole in my chest ripping open painfully, like tearing off a band-aid. My muscles went limp and I slumped to the ground, thankfully falling backward, and I curled into myself on the edge of the cliff and bawled my eyes out. It was the first good cry I had had since they had left, and surprisingly, it felt _good_. All my sorrow, my insecurities, my _anger_, bubbled up and I let it all pour out with the tears racing down my cheeks.

After an eternity my tears slowed and I realized I was freezing. The rain had soaked me to the bone, numbing my whole body. It felt oddly like the way my mind had been numbed up until now; for now I saw everything clearly. The situation with Jacob, the past months of catatonia, even my breakup with Ed—_him_. I winced slightly; afraid of the pain I would feel from thinking his name.

I realized that Jacob was good for me; I could learn to love him the way he loved me. I could. Now that I was past feeling nothing, was on the road to healing, the thought of being with Jacob was almost _too_ easy.

I also realized that what _he_ had done, he had done for my safety. I felt ridiculously idiotic to have thought he meant what he had said about not wanting me. How many times had he proven that I was all he wanted? With that realization, though, came more anger and confusion. Why had he done it? I knew now he had wanted me to be safe, to live a normal human life, but I hadn't _wanted_ a normal human life! I had wanted him, unconditionally, for eternity. And he had taken that away without even thinking of talking to me about it. If he had told me of his fears, his desire for me to live my life, yes I would have argued, but we would have eventually come to a compromise. Together. The way two people destined to share their lives should. But he hadn't. And that had me questioning everything I had had with him.

I struggled to my feet, lurching dangerously close to the edge before my numb legs cooperated. I stood tall, my chin up, almost glaring at the cloudy horizon. I would do it, I vowed then. I would get better. I would move on.

"Edward Anthony Masen-Cullen," I muttered, my fists clenching against the surprisingly small amount of pain saying his name brought, "I _am_ worth it."

**A/N: I know it's short but it IS just the prologue! Longer chapters (hopefully) to come! :)**


	2. Chapter 1

**Hey! Thanks to NatashaK89 who reviewed, and to everyone who put me on story alert and favourited :D**

**Still no Beta, so once again, any and all mistakes are mine.**

**Disclaimer: NO copyright infringement intended! Stephanie Meyer owns all characters (except a few OCs). And, of course, she owns me. But not literally.**

**CAUTION: This chapter has some slashy citrus! I hope you guys like it (if you like that kind of thing) If not, I put three asterisks (***) before it and when it ends so you can skip it :) enjoy!**

**P.S I'll probably update about once a week, but because life sometimes sucks and writer's block is ever pacing in the shadows, it may be more. But then again, sometimes the Gods are indulgent and it may be less…**

Chapter 1:

I woke slowly, groaning slightly as I rolled away from the light streaming through my un-curtained bedroom window. As I stretched I cracked an eye open and peered at my alarm clock. Ten thirty. Groaning again, as I didn't have anything to do until work at eight, I cursed the fact that my mind only needed a few hours to rest.

I decided to stay in bed for as long as I could stand it. Snuggling into the covers again to get comfortable, my mind, as it usually did when I took time to sit quietly, turned to reflect on the past year and a half. It seemed ages ago I had been that eighteen year old girl declaring herself on top of a cliff. So much had changed since then; it seemed almost surreal that I had once had a normal life, free of homicidal vampire stalkers and gay werewolf best friends.

I giggled quietly as I remembered the drama concerning my best friend and pseudo-brother. Shortly after my epiphany on the cliff in La Push where I vowed to move on from Edward and get over him and the other Cullens disappearing, Jacob and I attempted—and failed, _miserably_—to become something more than friends. It was nice at first, to sit on my couch or lie on his bed wrapped in each others' arms, but the romantic-physical stuff was definitely sub-par. We had kissed on more than one occasion, trying to feel a spark of _something_. After a month we both realized we were much better off as friends; and Jacob, shortly after that, realized he liked men. The pack was, understandably, a bit awkward—after all, everybody had seen everybody naked at least once; what if Jake had _looked_? Never mind the fact that Jake had never shown any inclination towards any of them. I rolled my eyes as I thought of the theatrics Sam had put on when Jake finally came out to them.

"Jacob, I must ask you to refrain from being within eyesight of anyone when they're shifting," he had intoned monotonously, gravely. "Some of the others are…nervous to be around you in such a…vulnerable state."

Jake had jumped up from his spot on Sam's couch at that, seething and shaking. "What, they think I'm gonna randomly start trying to mount them? Geez, I only told you guys I was gay, like, half an hour ago and you're all already 'nervous'?" He snorted and his shaking subsided as he crossed his arms over his bare chest. "Don't worry, Sam, you can tell the others their asses are safe from me and my gayness." Then he smirked. "Besides, all you bitches are ugly anyways."

Even funnier, in a terrible sort of way, was when Jacob imprinted. On Adam, a backpacker who had been passing through La Push on his way back home to Milton, a small city just outside Las Vegas.

"That's totally impossible," Sam had scoffed when Jake had broken the news. "The whole point of imprinting is to find the best candidate to pass on the wolf gene."

Jake had shrugged. "Well, that's just the way it worked. I realize it seems a little impossible, but—"

"A little? Jacob, are you drunk?" Sam raised an eyebrow. "Now, I've been lenient to you and your…preferences, but making a mockery of our tribe's ancient and sacred legends—"

Jake, Adam—who had been informed of the wolves just before and had insisted on being present for this conversation—and I had all exploded. From what I could gather of Jake and Adam's yelling and hollering, Adam thought Sam was a 'narrow-minded prick', and Jake 'didn't need anyone to be lenient to his anything' and was just as confused as Sam was about his—Jake's—imprinting on a man. And I, of course, had told Sam that he could take his tribe's ancient and sacred legends and shove them up his ass, along with the bigot-stick he had up there. Sam had gotten angry, phased, and accidentally scratched both Adam and I—we had matching scars, I on my back and Adam on his right arm—causing Jacob to phase and fight Sam until he—Sam—had lay bleeding among the wreckage of his house, pleading for his life. We had left the rez shortly after that, taking up residence at Charlie's. Charlie had been suitably freaked out and nervous around Jacob and Adam whenever they showed any kind of PDA for about a week, then he walked in on…well, I still wasn't quite sure what it was, but whatever it was had prompted Charlie to kick himself out of the house, moving into Jake's old room at Billy's.

Life had stabilized pretty nicely after that—I had graduated high school, as had Jake—apparently the wolf gene also accelerated his mental capacity, because he skipped two grades in the span of two months—and life had been perfectly mundane.

Until, as per usual in my world, disaster struck. Charlie and Billy had been visiting—dinner and some sports game—and Adam, who was quite the chef, and I realized we didn't have enough fish (as ironic as that was, considering Charlie used to fish every weekend and bring home at least three fish each time) so we had run to the grocery store. When we returned Jake was badly injured and Charlie and Billy were both ripped apart, strewn around the living room like party decorations. Turned out Victoria had been planning, for some time, the demise of myself and the Cullens. She had created a small army, at least five judging from the amount of vampiric body parts we had had to burn, and travelled from Seattle. Having found the Cullens gone she had ventured to my house, probably to see if they had left their 'pet' or not. I suppose she had thought I wasn't there anymore, or maybe she just wanted to cause me pain, but she murdered my dad, his best friend, and seriously injured my best friend. Jake and Seth—who had secretly been doing patrols around the house in a gesture of acceptance or friendship or something—had managed to tear apart five of them, but apparently Victoria and one male had gotten away.

I sniffled and wiped the tears from my eyes. I hated when my thoughts turned towards that day, but I always felt a bit better after crying; lighter somehow. No longer content to lie in bed all day I peeled the covers back and swung my feet over the edge of the bed, shoving them into the fuzzy slipper-boots Adam had bought me for Christmas last year. Pulling on the matching housecoat—Christmas present from Jake—from where it hung over the end of my bed I belted it loosely and pulled open my bedroom door.

Shuffling down the hall I could hear movement coming from the kitchen and the muted noise of the TV from the living room—the boys were up. "Morning!" I called, pausing halfway down the hall. Since we had escaped Forks—Sam had of course blamed _me_ for my father and Billy's deaths and ordered us to leave the day after their funerals—and moved to Adam's home in Milton I had walked in on the two _way_ more than I would have liked. I knew how gay men had sex, I didn't need a demonstration.

Whispered curses and a plastic plate crashing to the ground told me they had, indeed, been doing _something_. "Really, guys?" I asked, covering my eyes with a hand and walking into the kitchen. "The _kitchen_?" I placed my other hand on my hip, attempting to look stern even as I smiled. They were so adorably in love I couldn't help but forgive them—as long as they didn't leave their sex-germs all over the house, anyways.

"Well, we've already fucked on every surface in the living—"

"Whoa!" My other hand flew to my hip and I glared at them. Jake, his back turned, was shaking with silent laughter as he finished making the only thing he knew how to cook—scrambled eggs and bacon. "Do _not_ finish that sentence, Adam Hull. I'm already grossed out enough about the time you guys blew each other in my car!" I shuddered slightly as Adam laughed, pushing his sand-coloured hair out of his eyes. "That was _not_ funny," I narrowed my eyes at him and pouted.

"You're right, it wasn't, and I apologize," Adam managed between chuckles. I sneered at him and climbed onto one of the mismatched stools surrounding our scarred wooden table.

"Breakfast is ready," Jake announced, turning around with two plates in his hands—one piled with bacon and one overflowing with eggs. "I'll make more while you guys eat, okay?" Since Jake ate more than Adam and I combined we made him cook breakfast—we had tried to make him cook everything else too but after throwing out two meals of either black and burned or raw and undercooked food we elected him for breakfast and grocery shopping. This meant breakfast consisted of toast, bagels, scrambled eggs, bacon, and/or cereal.

"Sounds good!" I smiled and dug in, scooping eggs onto the fork Adam had placed in front of me and shovelling it into my mouth at top speed. I had stopped feeling the pains of hunger—a side affect of the numbness I had endured when Edward had first left—so when I did eat I was usually starving. I finished my plate of bacon and eggs in record speed and piled more on my plate. Adam ate and Jake cooked quietly, both used to my eating habits, but I'm sure I looked like a savage, fork piled with eggs in one hand and piece of bacon in the other. When I had finished my third plate I hopped down and brought my dishes over to the dishwasher—a time-saver since we all worked long shifts and had no patience whatsoever for doing dishes ourselves—and decided to have a long, hot shower to pass the time.

"Hey Bells." I paused in the doorway of the kitchen and glanced back at Jake, raising an eyebrow. He hadn't called me 'Bells' since we left Forks. "Happy birthday."

I blinked, surprised. I had legitimately forgotten it was my birthday today. My twentieth birthday—twenty-third according to my I.D. When we had started our new lives Jake and I had procured fake everything from one of Adam's 'friends'. I was now Marie Brandon, twenty three (as of today), and Jake was now Jake Greene, twenty-six. "Thanks," I finally said, and his eyebrows furrowed slightly, most likely concerned at my pause, before smiling, nodding, and turning to Adam. I continued on my way to the bathroom and, as planned, had a twenty-five minute shower. More than half of that was spent standing with my head tilted back, letting the water beat down onto the back of my shoulders and my chest alternately. When I was nice and pruned and warm I flicked the water off and wrung my hair out before pulling back the curtain, wrapping myself in a big fluffy white towel, and padding barefoot—carrying my slippers and housecoat—to my room.

I slipped on a black lace thong and the matching lace bra—an unwritten code the waitresses had at the bar was to wear sexy underwear; even if nobody saw it you felt sexier, and therefore held yourself taller and walked more confidently. Dropping my towel and surveying my closet I decided on a short black jean skirt and a white tank top. Setting my black motorcycle boots and leather jacket aside to slip on when we left I brushed my hair and decided to let it air-dry; it was a little frizzy that way, but it fell to the middle of my back in beautiful curls women spent hours trying to achieve. Satisfied I would look pretty, if not hot, I grabbed Wuthering Heights from my bookshelf and sprawled across my bed.

~.:XoX:.~

"Bella!"

Screaming and bolting awake at the shout and loud banging on my bedroom door I fell off the bed with a thud. "What?" I groaned from the floor, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes and finger-combing my hair out of my face.

The door opened and Jake stepped in, looking confusedly at my bed before realizing I had fallen. "It's six o'clock," he said softly, walking forward and holding his hand out to help me up. "We let you sleep but weren't sure if you wanted food or if you needed to do anything else before we left."

"Oh!" I took his hand and he yanked me up, nearly causing me to fall over again. "I didn't realize I had fallen asleep." I picked up my book—I had only gotten about ten pages in, I noticed—and shoved it back on my shelf. "I need to do my make-up quickly and brush my teeth. I can grab an apple to eat on the way."

Jake nodded, and then sank to my bed and pulled me down beside him. "Are you okay, Bella?" he asked quietly. "I know…I know how hard it must be for you. Especially today, the day…" he hesitated and bit his lip, looking uncharacteristically shy and uncertain.

"The day my life went to hell?" I smirked. "It's okay, Jake; I'm not gonna curl into a ball or hold myself together. Not anymore. It hurts, yes, because I love them and miss them, but they did what they did because they loved me; they wanted me safe. Today of all days is a reminder of just how wrong it could have gone had they stayed." A brief, slightly fuzzy memory of the day Jasper had tried to eat me flashed to the front of my brain.

Jake nodded slowly, and then sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Look, Bella…I need to tell you something. I was gonna tell you sooner, but wasn't sure how you'd take it—but now that I know you're okay with it all—fuck—" he broke off and rubbed his hands over his face.

A ball of nerves coiled in my stomach. "What is it?" I leaned forward and lifted his chin slightly, making him look at me. Sitting so close to him I could feel the warmth seeping off him, and I instinctively inched a bit closer—I was almost always cold. "Jake, what happened?"

He sighed once more and closed his eyes for a second, before breathing a word I couldn't hear. I raised an eyebrow at him and waited, and, knowing I knew he had done that on purpose, he rolled his eyes at me before speaking again. "Vampires."

My breath caught. With Jake's werewolf abilities—even though he hadn't phased in over a month—he was able to smell vampires; he had told me once they smelled sickly sweet, and burned his throat and nose like bleach. But, as the rightful Alpha of the Quileute pack, he had a doubly heightened sense of smell; he could pick out unique scents for vampires, as well as his werewolf brothers (and sister, since Leah had joined the pack just shortly after we left). He could even detect a difference between Adam, myself, and other humans. He could track us to the ends of the world without a problem, he said, if anything ever went wrong. Wrong meaning Victoria, of course, or any other sadistic human-drinking vampire.

"Bella?" I was yanked out of my thoughts by Jake's concerned voice. "Did you hear me?"

I nodded. "Yeah. Vampires." I shook my head slightly and organized my thoughts. "Anyone you recognize?" He knew, as he had only ever met nine vampires that had lived long enough to need to remember their scent, that I was asking after the Cullens or Victoria.

"One, _maybe_," he frowned slightly. "I hadn't phased before the Cullens left, so I'm going off what I remember Sam thinking they smelled like. As he didn't have the nose I do it'll be hard to get a definite answer on the Cullens." Then he shook his head. "But it definitely wasn't Victoria or the male leech." Jake had stopped calling the Cullens leeches and bloodsuckers about a year after we had moved here; when I could finally talk about them without an ounce of sadness in my voice. Now the name calling was left for the human-drinkers.

"How many are there?"

"Three." I nodded, glad Jake had told me. "Do you want to stay home tonight? I can call the boss for you," he smirked and I giggled; Adam owned the bar we all worked at.

I thought about if for a minute. Did I want to stay home? A small part of my brain said 'yes' immediately, but the majority didn't want vampires ruling my life, dictating when I went out, when I stayed in, whether I went to work or not. Edward had done that enough in the short amount of time I had known him to last me several lifetimes. Besides, it wasn't Victoria or whatever-his-name-was; it was probably three nomads passing through. As long as I hugged Jake before work his smell would be all over me and they wouldn't go near me. "No, I'm good." I smiled. "But thanks. For asking, and for telling me about them. I appreciate it."

Jake shrugged. "Figured you should know, since you technically have more experience with vampires than I do." We both glanced down at the crescent-shaped scar adorning my palm and Jake began tracing it slowly with his thumb. The warmth from his hand and the perpetual coldness radiating from the scar created a strange sensation and I shivered slightly. We sat in silence for a while before Jake spoke. "We should finish getting ready," he muttered.

I nodded, unwilling to break the comfortable silence we had between us. I smiled as I thought that we had ever imagined we could have possibly been intimate in any way other than as brother and sister; even if I hadn't known Jake was gay—and I hadn't at the time—it was almost laughable; when I was with him I felt warm, safe, protected, loved; but I didn't feel _that way_.

Jake stood and tucked a strand of hair behind my ear before kissing my forehead and stepping silently from the room—I took over tracing the scar on my hand for a few more moments before jumping suddenly into action, heading for the bathroom and my make-up. The bathroom was mercifully empty when I reached it—Adam was extremely gay in the fact that he took for_ever_ to get ready, and Heaven help anyone who touched his hair after he had styled it just so—and I brushed on a light layer of foundation, a slightly heavy swipe of eyeliner, and a dab of blood red lip gloss in less than ten minutes.

"Ready!" I called, hopping down the hall as I tried to simultaneously walk and slip my boots on. I had shoved my make-up tools, along with my neon green wallet, into my metallic silver purse, which was currently slung over my shoulder and falling in the way every few seconds.

"Excellent." Adam was waiting at the front door, his hands in his tight jean pockets. I sighed as I looked him over; dark black skinny jeans, purple high-top converse, a bright green 'Talk nerdy to me' t-shirt; three bracelets on his left arm, gay pride, breast cancer awareness, and prostate cancer awareness, and one thick one on his right; black with metal bars and small chains; and he no doubt had a black hoodie in the car. His hair was styled over his face today, his bangs sweeping down across his forehead and into his right eye. Around his baby blue eyes was a thin line of eyeliner, and he was probably wearing black nail polish.

"Such a waste," I sighed, winking at him as I leaned against the wall and managed to get my boots on.

"No, he's not!" Jake called from outside. Adam blushed slightly as I laughed. "Hurry up, we'll be late!"

"Yes, mother," I retorted, snorting as I shrugged into my jacket and stepped around Adam onto the front porch. I walked down the cement steps and towards the dark red truck idling in the driveway. Jake was leaning impatiently against the passenger side door. I smiled as I opened the driver's door and climbed in. I had bought the truck as a tribute to my baby, the rusty monster of a truck Charlie had bought me when I first moved in with him. It had died on the way down here and we had been forced to buy a truck or be squished in Jake's Rabbit—now also retired—for the rest of the drive. "Are we stopping for coffee?" I asked as Adam joined us, climbing over Jake to sit in the middle of the bench seat.

"Sure!" Jake closed the door and they buckled up as I backed out of the driveway.

"We don't have time," Adam countered, and Jake's smile fell into a childishly adorable pout. "I need to be there for quarter to seven." He turned to Jake and ran his fingers through Jake's short black hair. "Maybe next time, baby."

"Fine," Jake whined, and they fell silent, no doubt kissing. Not wanting to take my eyes off the road to smack them I ignored them, reaching over and turning the music up so I couldn't hear their whispered words or moans.

*****Slash Ahead!*****

I managed to ignore them and was just parking the truck in the parking lot of the bar when I felt Adam shift slightly. Peeking at them out of the corner of my eye I blushed as I realized they were rubbing each other's cocks through their jeans. Jake's shirt was lying abandoned by his feet and Adam was currently biting his neck. Jake's head was thrown back against the seat, his eyes squeezed shut, and he was whimpering every few shallow pants. My blush deepened when I saw that Adam's right hand was shoved in the back of Jake's pants, his arm muscles rippling as he finger-fucked his lover. _In. My. Truck._

I opened my mouth to tell them to piss off and finish inside—or even outside, really—but the words died in my throat when Jake began bucking his hips gently, forwards into Adam's hand as he stroked him and backwards as Adam fingered him. Adam flicked the button on Jake's jeans open and then his hand was in his pants, wrapped around Jake's cock, pumping faster. Jake was moaning loudly now and it was the only sound in the truck; the music had stopped when I shut the truck off. His hand had stopped moving over Adam's jeans and was now resting on his thigh, clenching tightly.

I bit my lip and shifted. I shouldn't be watching this. It was totally wrong and absolutely immoral to watch my best friend get fucked by his boyfriend…but it was so damn hot.

Adam's head moved and he placed sloppy, open-mouthed kisses down to Jake's chest, and began sucking on Jake's hardened nipple. Jake yelped quietly and bucked his hips more. Adam made to move but his seatbelt hindered him; I clicked it and he grunted in thanks before shifting, straddling Jake's leg. Jake undid Adam's jeans and Adam began thrusting gently on Jake's leg, the hand shoved in Jake's ass moving quicker and the hand on his cock stroking harder. Jake fisted one of his hands in Adam's hair and yanked his head up to his, kissing him fiercely as his other hand wrapped around Adam's thigh and manoeuvred Adam so he was thrusting against Jake's crotch. They both moaned, low, breathless, guttural moans that instantly shot to my core. Jake began moving his hips faster, letting out deep groans of pleasure with every thrust. Adam's hands and hips moved faster in return, spurred on by his lover's actions. Suddenly Jake came, jerking his hips in a few quick, shallow movements before thrusting hard into Adam and letting out a hoarse cry. Adam came seconds later, and they continued to kiss gently until Adam removed his hands and brought his left hand to his mouth, licking it clean.

*****It's over :)*****

I sat, nearly breathless, practically panting, as they came down from their post-sex bliss. Adam half-heartedly swiped his hand through his hair and Jake chuckled, his eyes still closed. "Enjoy the show?"

I opened my mouth but no sound came out; I was still replaying what had just happened over and over and _over_ in my head. My throat was dry as well; it seemed that any and all liquids in my body had travelled down to my 'lady bits'. "Fuck that was hot," I muttered without thinking. "I mean—" I blushed deep red as Adam and Jake both turned to smirk lazily at me.

"Happy birthday," Adam winked and kissed Jake lightly before pushing the truck door open and sliding across Jake's lap.

I sat with Jake in surprisingly not-awkward silence as his breathing slowly evened out. I knew I should have been embarrassed but couldn't bring myself to be; if they hadn't wanted me to see, they would have gone somewhere besides _my_ vehicle. Or at the very least waited until I was gone. "You ready for work?" Jake asked when his breathing was finally back to normal, chuckling slightly.

I rolled my eyes and, grabbing his t-shirt from the floor of the truck, tossed it in his face. "Yeah, absolutely. Ready for piss drunk men to grab my ass all night!" I cheered sarcastically and hopped out of the truck, locking the doors when Jake exited a second later.

He snorted and started towards the scuffed metal door marked 'Employee Entrance'. "At least you don't have to walk around in cum-soaked underwear." I burst out laughing and, swinging my purse over my shoulder, hurried after him.

**A/N: It's quite a bit longer than the last one :P Review and lemme know if it was too long? I don't want to lose any readers because my chaps go on and on and on and on…Thanks! :)**


	3. Chapter 2

**I know I updated yesterday but I had this chapter finished already so I decided to show my love and update now! Yey :D  
>Thanks to those who favouritedput me on story and author alert! I love you all 3**

**Disclaimer: NO copyright infringement intended! Stephanie Meyer owns all characters (except a few OCs). And, of course, she owns me. But not literally.**

Chapter 2:

Three other waitresses, two of whom danced on occasion, were lounging in the 'back office' when we walked in. Meghan and Lexi were sitting in front of the row of four large dressing-room mirrors set along the wall to the left doing make-up, and Charlotte was standing in front of the twin racks of clothes across the room. "Evening, ladies," Adam said, nodding and smiling.

"Hey!" Lexi jumped up, abandoning the compact of concealer on the small ledge littered with make-up containers, and rushed at me as fast as her six-inch stilettos would carry her. "Happy birthday, Marie!"

"Thanks!" I huffed as she crashed into me. Normally five-foot, with her bob of inky hair, bubbly attitude, and general gracefulness, Lexi was like the human version of Alice. "Are you dancing tonight?"

Lexi nodded as she pulled back and did a quick turn, somehow managing to look fluid with shiny black death-traps strapped around her feet. "What do you think?" An incredibly small white bikini was situated around her torso, the small patches of fabric barely enough to hide her nipples. Her belly ring was silver, with a sapphire jewel, and attached to it was a thin chain of rhinestones that wrapped around her waist loosely like a belt. Black booty shorts and fishnets completed the outfit, along with the coal black stilettos. She had messily styled sex-hair, and her ocean blue eyes looked twice their normal size, rimmed with black eyeliner and blue smoky-eye eye shadow.

"Very hot," I smiled. "Who else is dancing tonight?"

Lexi's smile slid off her face. "Oh, yeah. Adam!" she waved Adam over where he had been discussing something with Charlotte and he sauntered over, grabbing Jake's butt as he walked towards the bathroom. Jake blushed and slapped at his hands as Meghan, Lexi, and Charlotte giggled; I rolled my eyes—I had seen it enough, it was no longer cute to see how unafraid of PDA they were.

"Yes, Lexi?" Adam paused beside me, looking Lexi over quickly. "Very nice," he nodded.

"Thanks." She brushed aside the compliment. "Look, I need to tell you—Sarah can't come in tonight. Her brother got arrested, _again_." Jack MacDougal was almost always in jail for some reason or another—mainly drugs and petty thefts.

"Fuck!" Adam cursed and ran his hand through his I-just-fucked hair, making it even messier. "Meghan? Can you go on?" He leaned around Lexi slightly to look at Meghan in the mirror.

Her pale green eyes turned pleading. "Please, no! That ass Derek is here tonight, you know how he gets when I dance." Derek Henderson, a regular at the bar, was one of our most grabby customers, and this month his sights were set on Meghan. It was bad enough when she happened to waitress his table, grabbing her J-Lo booty or propositioning her none-too-tactfully. Last time she danced and he was here he actually tried getting onto the stage with her.

I sighed; I hadn't wanted to dance, but Charlotte was already dancing and anyone else already working wouldn't want to get changed now. "I'll do it." I had danced a few times before and, although I wasn't exactly sure what the hell I was doing up there, I had seen enough to be pretty decent.

Adam turned to me and threw his arms around me, crushing me against his chest. "Thank you, thank you, thank you Be—Marie!" Adam smiled sheepishly at me as he pulled away; he had almost slipped, and had a few times in the past, as well. Maybe I would need to ditch Bella Swan for good. "I will be forever in your debt—you can watch Jake and I fuck as often as you want!"

"Ooh, in that case, I'll dance!" Meghan winked. "You guys are so sexy; I can only _imagine_ how hot that'd be."

"I'm already dancing, but can I watch, too?" Charlotte walked over, a neon green bra dangling across her full chest. "Hey, can someone help me with this?" She turned and Adam stepped forward, blushing but otherwise not acknowledging Meghan or Charlotte's comments.

"Let's get you dressed!" Meghan and Lexi each grabbed one of my hands and pulled me over to the racks.

"It's a shame you chose to wear those shoes tonight," Lexi frowned at my boots as Meghan began searching for something that fit. The dozen or so girls who rotated dancing were all pretty much the same size, but like Charlotte my boobs were a bit fuller than the other girls', making it hard to find shirts that fit.

"What's wrong with my boots?" I shrugged out of my jacket and tossed it and my purse onto an empty ledge in front of a mirror. "You know there's no way I'd be able to dance in heels, anyways."

Lexi sighed. "This is true." With that we turned to the racks.

"What about this?" Meghan held up a see-through white lace tank top with built-in cups.

"No, thanks," I wrinkled my nose at it. "Besides, that's way too small." I gestured to my boobs.

"Right, Miss Jumbo-Tatas," Meghan grumbled, rolling her eyes.

Lexi laughed. "That's a good one!" She beamed at her friend before turning to me, holding out silky black booty shorts. "These?"

I shrugged and kicked my boots off. "Sure." I took them from her and flicked open my skirt, letting it slide to the floor before stepping out of it and pulling the shorts up my legs.

"What about…this one?" Meghan pulled a top off the rack and held it up. It was a black corset with red detailing; seven red ribbons spaced around it, running from top to bottom, and red ribbon on either side of the front-tie, the rope at which was red. There was also red along the top and bottom hem.

"That is gorgeous, but how the hell are my tits gonna fit into that?" I was shocked at how much I loved the top; most of the lingerie was fun to look at, but I rarely wanted to actually _wear_ any of it. But this top…I could wear forever.

"We'll make them fit! Now come on, let's get you dressed!" Meghan looked at Lexi, who glanced at the clock hanging over the door leading to the rest of the bar and shook her head sadly, gesturing towards it. "Oh." Meghan pouted for a moment before perking back up. "Well, good luck! I'll get Marie all sexy and she'll show you up."

"Probably," Lexi laughed, and then kissed both our cheeks and sauntered towards the door, taking a deep breath before swinging it open and walking through like she owned the place.

"Come on, Marie! Don't look so scared," Meghan laughed, taking my hand and tugging me over to the cubby-like shelves beside the clothes racks. "Do I need to help you take your shirt and bra off, too?" she giggled, and I blushed.

"Sorry. I'm just…" I shrugged, not really sure why I was feeling so nervous. "Sorry." I smiled and pulled my shirt over my head, then picked up my skirt and folded them both on a shelf. Unclasping my bra I set it on top of the folded fabrics and turned to Meghan. "Let's do this."

~.:XoX:.~

I took a deep breath and stared at the door in front of me nervously. It was only the fifth time I had danced, and the first in something that I could fall out of just by jumping or breathing deeply.

"Ready?" Meghan poked her head around the door leading to the stage. "You're up next, Charlotte's gonna finish up in a second."

I nodded jerkily, and wiped my sweating palms on my bare legs. "Do I look okay?" I asked for the third time, touching the top gently. It had been a tight fit but we had got my boobs in it; there was just a large space between the two sides. The string was as long as it could be and still be tied, and it was still a close call. For the first time I wished I could walk in heels; it probably looked weird to be wearing clunky motorcycle boots, but it was too late to even think about thinking of changing.

"You look gorgeous," Meghan smiled. "What songs are you gonna do?"

My eyeliner-laden eyes widened and I paled. "Shit, I forgot to think of songs! Oh, fuck!" I felt myself panicking and I tried to steady my breathing—hyperventilating in a corset would _not_ end well, I could tell.

"Do the one where you land in the crowd," Meghan suggested, and then winked. "There are two really, _really_ drop-dead fuckhot men sitting front-row centre, and a bombshell babe. I wonder if she's single…" Meghan smiled and shrugged. "Oh, well; I'd rather have a go with one of her friends, not that she isn't totally one-night-stand material."

I laughed. "Nice, Meghan. And thanks." I could feel my panic dripping away slowly, replaced with amusement and determination. I could do this; I would kick ass and have at least half of the men drooling over me by the time I was done.

"No problemo, Marie," Meghan grinned. "Now, you ready?"

"Yes." I nodded. "I'll do Roads, and then the one you suggested. You'll tell Sean?" Sean was our DJ; usually Adam gave him the list of songs at the start of the night but at such short notice someone would have to go tell him.

"I'll leave now. You just get ready, and remember; you are totally hot. You'll be fine."

"Thanks!" I called as she disappeared through the door, but she probably hadn't heard; Sean was announcing the next dancer. He cut off halfway through introducing Sarah and instead introduced me; I could almost feel the confusion and anticipation at the sudden change in dancers.

I took a deep breath and let it out in a sigh. "You can do this," I muttered to myself. "Just don't trip. Or jump. Or take a deep breath." I laughed slightly and self-consciously tugged at the corset.

I stepped to the door and opened it, listening for the music to start. The intro was playing; in this dance I waited until the deep bass beat kicked in. Counting in my head I stepped through the door and walked down the short hall, pausing at the edge of the curtains hanging on the edge of the stage. I had never actually seen them close; they were just for show, I supposed. Closing my eyes and channelling my inner Rose—sexy, confident, graceful, fierce—I pasted what I hoped was a sexy smirk on my face and, right on beat, stepped out of the shadows.

I let the music take me over, the loud bass making my body vibrate gently. It wasn't exactly the _best_ song to dance to at a strip club, but it was my favourite song and one day fooling around Meghan, Lexi, Charlotte, Adam, Destiny—another dancer—and I came up with a really good dance. As the lyrics started I closed my eyes and danced my heart out.

_Ooh, can't anybody see_

_We've got a war to fight_

_Never found out way_

_Regardless of what they say_

_How can it feel, this wrong_

_From this moment_

_How can it feel, this wrong_

_Storm…in the morning light_

_I feel_

_No more can I say_

_Frozen to myself_

_I got nobody on my side_

_And surely that ain't right_

_And surely that ain't right_

_Ooh, can't anybody see_

_We've got a war to fight_

_Never found out way_

_Regardless of what they say_

_How can it feel, this wrong_

_From this moment_

_How can it feel, this wrong_

The instrumental started and, mid-spin, I slid my eyes open and peered towards the chair I would be landing on at the end of my second song. For less than a second I froze, my entire body tensing and my hands clenching in the process of running through my hair. My eyes tunnel-visioned and all I saw was them.

Pale skin.

Unnatural beauty.

Graceful even in stillness.

The other patrons were instinctively shying away from them, leaving a ring of empty chairs around them. I panicked for a moment before noting none of them were Edward; he would have been sure to have a shit fit if he saw me like this. But one of them _was_ a Cullen. Sitting in the chair I would jump onto, his long, wavy blond hair partially hiding his wide amber eyes, was Jasper fucking Hale. It took my breath away to see how badly my memories had done him justice, and probably the rest of them. He was impossibly beautiful, even for a vampire.

The female sitting beside the other male was also blonde, and had bigger breasts than I did. The male looked eerily like Jasper, except his hair was dark brown and his eyes were crimson, as were the female's. I shivered slightly, a reflex action, but didn't feel the disgust or terror usually accompanied with seeing human-drinking vampires.

I almost didn't notice the lyrics starting again. I forced myself to focus, but even that was only at fifty-one percent; the other forty-nine was still staring in slack-jawed awe at the trio of vampires sitting in the front row watching me dance.

_How can it feel, this wrong_

_From this moment_

_How can it feel, this wrong_

_Ooh, can't anybody see_

_We've got a war to fight_

_Never found our way_

_Regardless of what they say_

_How can it feel, this wrong_

_From this moment_

_How can it feel, this wrong_

The song was over and I stepped to the right, disappearing behind the curtain where Meghan was waiting with a water bottle and a cloth. "You were a-_mazing_!" she gushed, shoving the bottle in my hand and dabbing at the sweat collecting in my cleavage and on my neck. "I was, no offence, kind of worried you would trip or pop out of your shirt, but…" Meghan whistled quietly and shook her head in bemusement. "I totally wanna do you right now."

I blushed deeply and frowned at her, but continued chugging water like my life depended on it. I heard the crowd quiet down and knew my too-brief reprieve was over.

Meghan took the empty bottle from me. "Ready?" I took as deep a breath as I dared and nodded, wiping excess water carefully from my mouth. "Good. Go!" She spun me around and the music started.

I sauntered out, swinging my hips to the beat and lip-syncing the words as I danced.

_Count backwards 5, 4, 3, 2, 1_

_Before you get too heated and turned on (and turned on)_

_You should've learned your lesson all them times before_

_You've been bruised, you've been broken_

I bent my knees, still swinging my hips, lowering until I was crouched before sliding back up, my arms rising, hands trailing my torso.

_And there's my mind saying think before you go_

_Through that door that takes me nowhere (yes boy)_

_I stopped you all romantic crazy in your head_

_You think I listen, no I don't care_

I slowly began dancing towards the right side of the stage where a pole stood, creating a sort of bridge from the stage to the bar.

_Can't focus I can't stop_

_You got me spinning round, round, round, round (like a record)_

_Can't focus it's too hot (inside)_

_You'll never get to Heaven if you're scared of getting high_

I jumped and grabbed the pole, the momentum spinning me around it once before I gracefully—for me, anyways—stepped onto the bar. Cheers erupted from the men sitting on stools along it.

_(Boy, boy) Let me keep freaking around, I wanna get down_

I dipped down, spreading my knees slightly, then rose up.

_I'm a red-blooded woman, what's the point of hanging around?_

_(Boy, boy)_

_I wanna keep turning it down, when this girl wants to rock with you, yeah…_

I ground my hips in a circle and bent my knees slightly.

_(Boy, boy)_

_Let me keep freaking around, I wanna get down_

I bent down again but this time facing away from the rest of the room. At least three hands grabbed my ass as I rose back up.

_I'm a red-blooded woman, what's the point in hanging around?_

_(Boy, boy)_

_I wanna keep turning it down, when this girl wants to rock with you_

_My conscious saying, get down off the streets,_

Having walked across the length of the bar I grabbed the pole there and, spinning twice around it, landed on the floor.

_It's too dangerous and deadly (yes boy)_

_He's got you talking around and circles got you see,_

_All for the sake of sexy_

I let my hands trail from my head all the way down my torso, skimming over my breasts, awarding a few cat-calls.

_And as my friends say, stop before you fall_

_I don't wanna pick you up again (yes boy)_

_He's got you all romantic, crazier each day_

_You think I listen, there's no way_

_Can't focus I can't stop_

_You got me spinning round, round, round, round (like a record)_

I ground my hips again, this time pushing my butt back against one of the men standing near me. He grabbed for my hips but I pushed him back and, mouthing the words, smiled and shook my head at him.

_Can't focus it's too hot (inside)_

_You'll never get to Heaven if you're scared of getting high_

I reached the foot of the stage and Jake and Adam, who knew this dance and had moved to wait for me, picked me up and literally tossed me onto the stage. Thankfully I landed on my feet.

_(Boy, boy)_

_Let my keep freaking around, I wanna get down_

_I'm a red-blooded woman, what's the point in hanging round?_

_(Boy, boy)_

_I wanna keep turning it down, when this girl wants to rock with you, yeah…_

I caught Jasper's eye for a split second and winked at him before turning away.

_(Boy, boy)_

_Let me keep freaking around, I wanna get down_

_I'm a red-blooded woman, what's the point in hanging round?_

_(Boy, boy)_

_I wanna keep turning it down, when this girl wants to rock with you_

_Let me keep freaking around (freaking around)_

_Red-blooded woman_

_It's too hot inside_

_You'll never get to Heaven if you're scared of getting high_

A sort of instrumental started and I spent it alternating between, to put it bluntly, fondling myself and grinding my hips.

_(Boy, boy)_

_Let me keep freaking around, I wanna get down_

_I'm a red-blooded woman, what's the point in hanging round?_

_(Boy, boy)_

_I wanna keep turning it down, when this girl wants to rock with you, yeah…_

I took a deep breath and prepared to jump onto Jasper's chair. In pure coincidence the way he was sitting, slouched slightly in his chair with his arms folded over his chest, was perfect.

_(Boy, boy)_

_Let me keep freaking around, I wanna get down_

_I'm a red-blooded woman, what's the point of hanging round?_

_(Boy, boy)_

_I wanna keep turning it down, when this girl wants to rock with you_

_Wanna rock with you_

As the music came to an end I abruptly launched myself off the stage, angling my legs so they straddled Jasper and his chair as I landed on his lap. The crowd let out a cheer and began clapping as I smirked at the shocked expressions on all three vampires. The way I was sitting my barely covered boobs were practically shoved in Jasper's slack-jawed face, and I moved my hips slightly, grinding myself against his erection.

"Hey Jasper, is that a gun in your pants or are you just really happy to see me again?"

**A/N: Songs were _Roads_ by Portishead and _Red-Blooded Woman_ by Kylie Minogue :)**

**Link for Bella's corset is on my profile :)**


	4. Chapter 3

**Thanks to everyone for the added alerts! :D**

**Now I know I haven't been bugging for reviews, as I find it obnoxious when people go on and on about people reviewing on their stories...but this is my first fanfic and I'm really anxious that people don't like it. I'm not trying to be all 'you're a horrid person if you don't review' but...please? Even just to say 'I didn't like this part'-ANY review is better than no review. You know?**

**ANYWAYS, enough with _that_, and on with the story!**

**Disclaimer: NO copyright infringement intended! Stephanie Meyer owns all characters (except a few OCs). And, of course, she owns me. But not literally.**

Chapter 3:

It took a surprising amount of time before any of them moved; weren't vampires supposed to have super thinking powers or whatever? By the time the two vampires sitting beside us started laughing hysterically the stage had already gone dark and the other patrons were smashed together on the small dance floor, grinding like there was no tomorrow to too-loud music with a bass beat that vibrated through your whole body.

"You—should—see—" the woman said, clutching at her sides like she had cramps from laughing. I could see venom pooled in her eyes and knew she would be crying if she could.

I glanced back at Jasper, who still looked slightly in shock, staring almost blankly at my chest. "Earth to Jasper," I relaxed my arched back and leaned forwards slightly to make his eyes meet mine, waving my hand in front of his face. "Yoo-hoo!"

Jasper finally blinked and then cleared his throat. His expression twisted slightly and I could practically see the blush spreading across his cheeks. "Bella! Hi—how—um—" I felt pressure on my upper thighs and realized he was gripping my legs, his fingers digging into my skin slightly.

I glanced at the two other vampires, who were smirking and giggling at us, and then scanned the room. People were starting to look at us; if we were going to talk we needed to go somewhere private—and somewhere I could hear them. The music was so loud I could barely hear myself think. "Come on! I know somewhere quiet we can talk." I touched Jasper's hands and he immediately released my legs; I stood, wobbling slightly as the blood rushed back to my legs, and turned towards the bar.

I didn't look back to see if they followed as I walked over and lifted a portion of the counter that served as a gate-type thing so employees could get around the bar. I was just about to open the door marked 'staff only' when Jake sidled up beside me.

"What are you doing?" he yelled, his lips grazing my ear as he leaned close enough for me to hear him.

"Ow!" I flinched away and covered my ear, smacking his arm even as I smiled. "I'm going to talk to them; that's Jasper!" I pointed to where the three vampires stood hesitantly on the other side of the bar, staring in disgust at Jake. "They won't hurt me, Jake."

Jake glared at them for a moment before turning to look at me with a resigned yet determined expression. "They better not, Bells. We may not be in Forks but I'll still get the pack to hunt them down and rip them apart if they hurt you." I knew him well enough to know that by 'hurt' he also meant 'bite'.

"Jake, I can take care of myself. Now get to work!" I ruffled his short hair and turned to the vampires, crooking my finger at them before turning the knob and pushing the heavy metal door open.

The music suddenly cut off and I groaned. "Wait!" I turned at the voice, halfway through the door, and sighed. I had forgotten completely!

I smiled apologetically at Meghan, who was trying very hard not to openly ogle the vampires huddled just beside the counter-gate. "Sorry, I forgot." I turned to the three. "This'll have to wait a few minutes. Come on!" I walked back through the gate and headed towards the stage, following Meghan. Chantal, Lexi, Destiny, Amelia, Mandy, and Brianna were already standing on the stage in a line, smiling and whispering excitedly.

"You guys can wait here," I told the vampires, and they sank back into their seats from before as I climbed onto the stage. Hearing the catcalls I bowed—very slightly, and even then I almost fell out of my shirt—and then joined the line of girls, falling in beside Meghan.

Adam came strolling onto the stage with a mike in his hand and the crowd quieted at once. I felt myself getting pumped along with everyone else; even though I had never participated, watching the girls do body-shots off hot guys—or girls, depending on their mood or preference—or hot guys—or, again, girls—doing body-shots off them was always entertaining. "Welcome, everybody!" Adam said happily. "As you all know, it is eleven o'clock, and it's time for one of our lovely ladies to do a body-shot of one lucky patron!" The crowd erupted in catcalls and cheers and I smirked at the three vampires chuckling—the male vampire was rubbing his hands together in anticipation and the female was shaking her head at him, muttering something under her breath. "Now," Adam continued once the crowd quieted, "as you may know, one of our girls is celebrating her birthday tonight! Our very own Marie Brandon is turning twenty-three! Marie, if you would." He smiled brightly at me and I stuck my tongue out at him before stepping forward, blushing deeply, and waving as people burst into an off-key, off-tempo chorus of 'happy birthday'. "Lovely, thank you!" Adam chuckled. "Now, since Marie is as of yet a body-shot virgin, we decided tonight would be a great time to let her step up to the plate!"

I felt the blush—and all the other blood—drain from my face. "No!" I shouted, though Adam couldn't hear me over the applause from the crowd. "Adam, I won't do it!" I shook my head frantically at him but he winked at me before deliberately turning his back to me. I clenched my fists and vowed to get revenge; perhaps I'd put hair dye in his shampoo bottle…or fill it with Nair.

"Marie, if you would." Adam gestured for me to step forward and—after Meghan shoved me roughly—I joined him at the front of the stage. "You know what to do?" he turned to look at me.

I took a deep breath. "You are gonna _pay_ for this, Adam," I hissed under my breath, before nodding.

"Excellent!" He beamed—but looked suitably nervous at my threat—and with a wide sweep of his arm gestured to the bar. "Well?" I heard shuffling behind us and knew the other girls were setting up a chair and folding table with the supplies I'd need—salt, lime wedge, and shot glass of tequila.

I frowned slightly at the crowd. Who the hell was I going to choose? I instantly thought of Jasper, but dismissed it; I would be far too nervous, and it would be more than a little awkward—we _had_, at one point, been future brother and sister-in-law. Sort of. As I swept my eyes across the people all cheering and begging to _please_ let me pick them I noticed the three vampires trying to look inconspicuous and tiny. Snorting, I smirked and climbed down off the stage. The crowd backed up slightly as I walked straight up to the three vampires practically cowering in their seats.

"Hey," I smirked at them. Jasper frowned and tensed like he was going to get out of his seat but I shook my head at him. Then I turned and looked appraisingly at the other male; he winked and made to stand as I stepped forwards—but I grabbed the woman's hand. His mouth dropped open as the crowd cheered and the female vampire glared at me. "Come on!" I smiled encouragingly and pulled her—well, she let me pull her—to the stage. We climbed onto it and Adam nodded and winked at me. 'Nice' he mouthed, and I shot him the middle finger before turning to the nervous vampire. "Just relax," I said quietly, soothingly. "All you have to do is sit there, squish your tits together, and hold a lime wedge in your mouth." I flicked my gaze down her body. "I'd say 'and look hot' but, well…that's a given, considering."

She giggled and sighed. "Alright, let's get this over with before my boy blows a load in his pants."

I snorted loudly and glanced at the male vampire who was staring wide-eyed at us. His eyes were pitch black and I worried he was thirsty before realizing—their eyes must darken with lust, as well. How observant of me. "Alright." I gestured to the chair and she lowered herself onto it. "You need to take your shirt off," I told her, and she tugged her shirt over her head, revealing breasts practically falling out of her black lace bra. Loud catcalls and cheering from the men erupted as she let her shirt fall to the stage.

"Now what?" she asked.

I smirked and knelt in front of her; taking her knees in my hands I spread her legs and inched forwards, and then leaned forward and touched my tongue to the skin just above the waistband of her skin-tight jeans. She tensed under me but I ignored it, licking slowly along her skin in an upwards trail. Her skin tasted weird; almost sweet, and not at all like the saltiness of human skin. It was cool under my tongue and I could only hope nobody else saw the little puff cloud of breath as I exhaled in a nervous sigh as I reached the bottom of her bra.

Pulling backwards I winked at her surprised expression and grabbed the salt, sprinkling it over where I had just licked. "Now you take this," I replaced the salt shaker and grabbed the shot glass, "and hold it here." I set it between her breasts and she squeezed them together slightly to create a sort of cup-holder. "Perfect." I smiled before taking the lime wedge. "Sorry, this part won't be pleasant for you. You need to hold it in your mouth." She wrinkled her nose. "You can hold it in just your teeth; I need to be able to get to it quickly anyways." I held it towards her and after a long second she nodded and opened her mouth. She bit down gently on the very edge of the peel of lime, grimacing slightly as some of the juice dripped onto her lips.

"Ready?" I looked at her. She nodded, and I took a deep breath. "That makes one of us." She giggled and spilled some of the tequila onto her chest. I mock glared at her before taking another deep breath. Then I squeezed her upper legs nervously—thank God for her granite skin or she'd probably have bruised—and shifted, crouching up on the balls of my feet so I could reach her mouth easier. Then I licked the salt from her skin, grabbed the shot glass with my teeth and jerked my head back, swallowing it, before grabbing the lime wedge—again with my teeth—from her mouth.

As the patrons cheered and catcalled and applauded, I winked at her before licking the extra alcohol from her chest—hoping she didn't mind and trying not to look as awkward as I felt as I did it. As she grabbed her shirt from where it laid at her feet I giggled, realizing we hadn't introduced ourselves yet. "I'm Bella!"

"Charlotte!" She replied, smiling and giggling as well.

~.:XoX:.~

I stepped into the empty dressing room-slash-employee's office, my mind finally—as it wound down from the nervous adrenaline rush from not even five minutes before—beginning to catch up with what was happening. Vampires! Three of them! One of whom I just did a body-shot off, and another who was my ex-boyfriend's 'brother'!

I winced slightly when I thought of Edward; not out of heartbreak, but out of pity for the poor, foolish, naïve girl I had been. I had thought the entire universe revolved around Edward Masen-Cullen—I had believed we were to be together for eternity, despite his reluctance to turn me. The feelings I had had for him had been, when it came down to it, no more than those a teenager feels for her first real boyfriend. I had only thought it was more because of the extra allure of his being a vampire, because of the adrenaline-like high I felt when I was around him and his family—most likely caused by the instinctual fear I subconsciously felt.

Not, I thought almost bitterly, that I could really chide myself. I hadn't had a boyfriend since Edward—I really didn't count Jake because, well, it never really _felt_ like we were dating—and the one time I had had sex it had been clumsy, sort of awkward, and painful. For me, anyway. _He_ had loved it. I shook my head and rolled my eyes at how absolutely boorish Julian Hull was. Adam had introduced us; he was Adam's brother—twin brother, to be exact. They were identical in every way except that Adam thought with the head on his shoulders.

"What're you thinkin' about so hard, there, Bella?" I jumped at least an inch off the ground and spun around, almost falling over. Jasper was trying—and failing—to hold back a smile and Charlotte and what's-his-name were giggling up a storm, trying to hide behind Jasper so I couldn't see their mirth at my clumsiness.

I shrugged and blushed. "Oh, you know," I waved a hand dismissively and turned back around, heading for my clothes. "Things."

"Like?" I glanced over my shoulder. Charlotte was peering curiously at the racks of clothes, the male was staring at her ass, and Jasper was looking intensely at me, his eyebrow raised.

I huffed and grabbed my clothes from the shelf. "Like things, okay? You don't get to ask questions right now; it's _my_ turn." I jabbed myself in the chest—wincing slightly as I jabbed too hard—and tossed my clothes onto a small end table tucked into the corner by the racks of clothing.

"Alright," Jasper chuckled—and _oh my goodness_ was it every sexy—and folded his arms across his chest, making the black long sleeve shirt he was wearing pull taught against his muscles. "What do y'all wanna know?"

I paused in the act of lifting my leg to pull my boot off. Letting my foot fall with a thud I turned slowly and frowned at him. "Since when do you have a southern accent?" And where the hell can I get one? I added mentally; southern accents were, by far, my favourite kind of accent. Save a horse, ride a cowboy indeed; there would be a gross overpopulation of horses if I had my way.

He raised an eyebrow at me—curse him and his one eyebrow lift!—and chuckled again. "I've always had it, Bella. I just never let it show because it'd be too conspicuous pretending to be Rosalie's twin when she didn't have one."

Pfft. _Duh_, Bella! "Right." I nodded once and then set out, once again, on the task of changing clothes. "Okay, next question." I peeled one boot off and let it drop unceremoniously onto the floor. "I know she's Charlotte, but who's he?" I pointed to the vampire currently pulling the lingerie on over the clothes he was already wearing.

"Guess I did forget to mention my name, huh?" the man asked, running a hand through his hair and grinning sheepishly. I nearly cheered at his voice; another southern accent! His was thicker than Jasper's, though, but I assumed it was because Jasper hadn't 'used' his as long as he had. "Name's Peter Whitlock, ma'am; it's a pleasure to meet you." He bowed slightly, the sequined blue bikini top he had on shimmering as he moved.

"He's also, unfortunately, my mate." Charlotte rolled her eyes and punched his shoulder affectionately. "Hey, would anybody notice if I stole this?" she added, holding up a black leather corset with deep purple ribbons.

I shrugged. "I'm not sure. Maybe." I peeled my other boot off. "Feel free to take it; but Jake may beat you for stealing from his impri—boyfriend." I switched from saying 'imprint' to 'boyfriend' at the last second—they probably didn't know what 'imprint' even meant.

As I guessed, the three vampires had identical looks of confusion on their faces. "'Impri'?" Peter asked.

"Imprint," I smiled slightly. "Like mates for werewolves."

"Werewolf?" Jasper frowned slightly. "He's from the Quileute tribe, then?" When I nodded, he continued. "I thought he smelled vaguely familiar; the wolf I met briefly smelled the same." He wrinkled his nose in disgust.

"Does he smell bad, then?" I hooked my thumbs in the boy shorts and tugged them down; Peter raised an eyebrow but Charlotte and Jasper didn't even react. I was unfazed when Peter very obviously checked out my legs; I had been more naked in front of a room full of strangers; three people—vampires, I almost had to remind myself—who I already, strangely, considered family were beyond no big deal.

"Very." Charlotte shuddered in disgust.

"Any other questions?" Jasper asked as I reached for my skirt.

"Hmm…" I frowned slightly. What else did I want to know from them? I immediately thought of asking about the Cullens, but judging from the colour of Charlotte and Peter's eyes Jasper hadn't seen them in a while; I doubted they would approve of the two vampires' diet. I shrugged mentally and decided to ask anyway; I was dying to know—I missed them all like crazy, especially Emmett. He was like the big brother I hadn't really wanted but loved nonetheless. "How's everyone else?"

Jasper shrugged, understanding who I meant. "I haven't seen them in almost two years."

I gasped, freezing with my skirt halfway up my thighs. "What! Why? What about Alice?"

Jasper shrugged again and looked away from me for the first time, choosing to frown at his shoes. "Things didn't work out," he mumbled.

"Why not? You guys were—you were perfect together!" I was extremely shocked and a little upset for my best friend; whenever her and Jasper had been together, they had seemed so…right. They fit, they worked; they carried out silent conversations, intimate conversations where they stared into each other's eyes and made anyone else in the room feel like an awkward pervert for intruding.

"We knew we'd have to part ways eventually; we weren't mates."

I blinked, surprised. From what Edward had, briefly, told me about vampires, I had gathered that vampires spent years, sometimes decades searching for their mates. They lived for their mates; without one, there couldn't be the other. "But—"

"Forever is an awfully long time to spend alone," he interrupted, smiling wryly. "And we…fit. We were good for each other, at the time. But that time passed." His eyes, which had flitted back up to my face, turned dark with regret and dropped. "I no longer felt worthy of her and, though at first she tried to make me see reason, she had a vision about her finding her real mate and broke it off."

"Why didn't you…?" My jaw dropped as I realized. He hadn't been with them in almost two years—they had left me two years ago. He hadn't felt worthy of her—that _had_ to have been triggered by what happened at my birthday. My heart swelled with sorrow for him and my vision blurred slightly as tears filled my eyes. I was the reason they broke up—sooner than they would have, anyways. He had probably been ashamed of himself, hated himself for what had almost happened, for the effects of that; them leaving me. He had to feel so guilty, seeing me now and possibly thinking of what it would have been like if he hadn't snapped, if I hadn't gotten a paper cut. If Edward hadn't thrown me onto a table piled with glass objects. "Oh, Jasper." I felt the tears overflow and spill down my cheeks as I rushed over to him. "It's all my fault!" I sobbed, crashing into him and wrapping my arms tightly around his waist. He stiffened and I realized that it was probably uncomfortable for him—his eyes _had_ been a little dark. I tried to pull away but his arms wound around me, caging me against him.

"It's not your fault," he whispered, gently leaning his cheek on the top of my head. "If I hadn't—"

"No!" I shook my head furiously, forehead and nose rubbing against his chest and stomach. "It was _not_ your fault! What happened—I never blamed you for it! Not even for a second." I could feel his shock, and knew that Charlotte and Peter were probably surprised as well—surely he had told them what had happened. "Jasper, you're a vampire. I'm a human. I was a bleeding human. You only did what came naturally." I pulled back slightly—very slightly; Jasper's arms were still holding me closely against him—and tilted my head back to look at his face. "And not only did you struggle most with your control, you're an empath! You had not only your own bloodlust to deal with but Emmett's, Rosalie's, Esme's, Alice's—and Edward's _had_ to be five times worse than everyone else put together, if what you guys had said about me being his singer or whatever was true." I laughed slightly. "I can't believe you felt guilty about that. Didn't Carlisle tell you I didn't blame you?"

Jasper let out a sigh and rolled his eyes at me. "Yes, of course he did; they all did. But why would I have believed them? Bella, it was my fault that Edward left you, that we all left you. You had to have hated me. I would have hated me if I were you. Hell, I hated me anyways!"

I snorted. "Why would I hate you for Edward leaving me? It probably would've happened eventually regardless." Another thing that had become clear to me since my revelations on the cliff; Edward would have fought big time against changing me. He would've rather left me than change me—which, really, is what he did. "It's not your fault he said what he did that day."

Charlotte chose this moment to butt in. "What did he say?"

I laughed and stepped away from Jasper, turning to smile at her. "You know; stupid teenage guy shit that he knew would make me feel shitty enough to let him go without a fight. 'You're not good for me', 'I don't want you', 'You don't belong in my world'." I knew my impression of Edward was terrible and I giggled slightly; but Charlotte's expression grew hard with anger and I felt Jasper tense behind me.

"He said that to you?" Charlotte seethed. I nodded. "That…that _bitch_!" She stomped her foot. We all winced when she put a hole through the wood floor. She cocked her head to the side and frowned at the hole as she lifted her foot from it. "Oops," she muttered innocently, then smiled sheepishly at me. "Sorry."

I couldn't help it; I burst out laughing. "Charlotte, you are so awesome!" I managed to choke out once I calmed down enough to breathe. I wiped at the tears of laughter rolling down my cheeks. "As weird and vaguely creepy as this may sound, I so love you." I giggled once more and then took a deep breath and finished buttoning my skirt. "Anyways! Next question." I thought about what I wanted to know next as I slipped my boots back on. "How long have you guys been in Milton?"

"Not very long," Charlotte answered. "We were just passing through, on our way home from Vegas, when Peter insisted we stop here." She smiled at her mate sweetly. "Now we know why."

"Why did you insist you stop here? I don't understand." I frowned slightly.

Peter smiled and tapped the side of his nose, to which Jasper groaned in frustration. "Why don't you just admit you have a gift, man!" he asked exasperatedly before turning to me. "As much as Peter may deny it, he 'knows things'." He used air quotes around the last two words. "Depending on the situation he can tell you exactly what's goin' to happen and when, down to the second; but others he just gets 'feelin's' and a sense if it'll be good or bad."

"So…kind of like seeing the future?" Peter shrugged and smiled mysteriously. "Well, that's awesome." I nodded. "I would want that power, I think, because having actual _visions_ would be…" I shuddered slightly, thinking of everything one would see—everything Alice must see. "I feel sorry for Alice."

"Her visions are not the definite future," Jasper said. "They're based on the decisions people make; they change as often as one changes their mind."

"That would be all the more difficult to handle," I replied. "Could you imagine, getting a vision every time someone thinks about doing _anything_? And getting another a second later when they decide not to do it; and then another, and then another…" I shook my head. "People change their minds way too often for me to want to have her ability." I began untying the ribbon holding my corset closed; as much as I loved it I _needed_ to take a nice, deep breath. "So what are you guys gonna do now?" I asked, loosening the string and sighing in relief when it became loose enough for me to breath.

"Well, that all depends on…" Peter trailed off when I let the corset fall to my feet without warning. After a moment of Peter staring at my chest—Jasper didn't even seem affected, and was looking levelly at my face—I smirked and put my hands on my hips.

"See something you like, Peter?" I asked. Peter blinked and then flinched violently away from Charlotte, as if expecting her to hit him, but she just giggled and turned him so his back was to me. "It all depends on what?" I prompted, reaching for my bra.

"On whether or not Peter has one of his 'feelin's' again," Jasper answered.

"So you guys are just gonna chill around until Peter decides you should leave?" I smirked as I pulled my bra into place. "You guys are _so_ whipped."

"We are not!" Jasper gasped, acting affronted. "Well, I'm not, anyways. I don't know about Char." He smiled sweetly at Charlotte and his whole face transformed—I almost gasped at how beautiful he was when he smiled. I swear I even heard an angel chorus. I vowed to make him do it more often as Charlotte smacked him in the back of the head, and I laughed as I reached for my shirt when Jasper's face fell into an achingly adorable pout.

He must've also been attempting puppy-dog eyes because Charlotte snorted. "Puh-_lease_, Jasper Whitlock, you _know_ those don't work on me no more."

I paused with my arms raised to pull my shirt over my chest. "Whitlock? I thought your last name was Hale?"

Jasper smirked and shook his head. "Nah, tha's Rosalie's last name; my real last name is Whitlock."

"So…you and Peter are brothers?" It really wasn't a stretch but it was odd to think that two brothers had been changed at almost the same time.

"Not biologically," Peter grinned. "And, really, if you want to talk in terms of family, he's our father." He gestured to himself and Charlotte. "He sired us," he added when I blinked in confusion.

"Oh," I nodded slowly. "Okay, I understand. So then what's your real last name?"

Peter shrugged. "I dunno."

"You…?" I frowned. "You don't know? How is that possible?"

"Edward must've told you how human memories fade for us," Jasper replied before Peter could. "We can keep most if we concentrate on them durin' the change, but…Peter didn't. And after he woke up, he blocked what few he had from his mind." Peter nodded in agreement.

"Peter, that's terrible!" I pulled my shirt into place. "I want to help. We can meet tomorrow at the library and I'll see if they have any public records. Do you remember where you're from? Any family? Anything will help."

They all looked stunned. "You…you would do that for me?" Peter breathed, incredulous, almost disbelieving.

"Of course I would." I smiled. "Everyone should know where they come from. Even bloodsuckers." I smirked and imagined Jake giggling like a little girl when I said that; for I was sure he was listening somewhere close by.

Peter looked shocked for a second more before his face broke out into a smile that lit up his whole face. "Thank you, Bella!" He rushed at me before any of us—well, before I—knew what was happening and he swooped me up in his arms, crushing me against him. "Thank you _so_ much!" He was laughing happily as he swung me around in a circle before setting me gently back on my feet and burying his face in my hair. "You have no idea how happy you've made me," he whispered.

I laughed breathlessly and returned the hug, stretching on my tiptoes to reach around his neck. "You're welcome, Peter." He tightened his hold briefly and I gasped. "Can you let me breath, though?"

"Fuck! Sorry 'bout that!" He immediately let go and took a quick step backwards, smiling sheepishly. I had a feeling he wore that look a lot. "I guess I forgot you were human for a second."

"You forgot I was human?" I giggled. "How is that even possible?"

"We haven't socialized with humans in a long time," Peter said, gesturing to himself and Charlotte. "Our diet makes it kind of hard to keep friends." He smiled, making sure to show his perfect white teeth, and I snorted.

"Why? I'm sure you'd have _killer_ dinner parties," I retorted, and he looked surprised for a second—probably at the fact that I was joking about him eating people—before bursting into hysterics. "It wasn't that funny," I told him as he sat down on the ground, laughing his head off. Venom was pooled in his eyes and I wondered briefly if it was uncomfortable to feel like you were crying but to not actually cry. Then I wondered _why_ they didn't cry.

"We should be leavin' soon," Charlotte said, just loud enough for me to hear over Peter. "We need to hunt if we're gonna spend all day with Bella tomorrow."

Peter stopped laughing abruptly and before I could blink was standing. "You're right," he sighed. "But she's so damn entertainin'; I don't want to leave."

I rolled my eyes. "Do you guys know where the library is?" I asked, and they nodded. "Meet me there at noon, okay?"

"Sure thing. Bye, Bella!" Peter hugged me—gently this time—and ruffled my hair.

"It was a pleasure to meet you," Charlotte smiled and in a second was across the room, pulling me into a hug.

"You, too," I replied, somewhat startled by their inhumanity; the Cullens had always held a sort of human façade around me, except when they would wrestle in the backyard—mainly Emmett and Jasper. I turned to Jasper and smiled sort of awkwardly; would we hug? His eyes were a bit dark. Maybe I shouldn't make him uncomfortable. And if I stepped towards him and he backed away…the fear of rejection crashed into me, unbidden, and I was a bit shocked at its intensity. Why would I care whether or not Jasper wanted to hug me?

I nearly breathed a sigh of relief when he stepped forward—at a human pace—and held his arms out slightly. I wrapped my arms around his waist and buried my face in his chest, trying to hide the wide grin spreading across my face involuntarily. "See you soon, Bella," he said quietly, his breath ghosting across my ear and shoulder as he rested his cheek against the side of my head. His head tilted slightly and I felt him inhale deeply against the part of my head just above my ear.

"Bye, Jasper." The words brought a sort of melancholy to me; a very faint ghost of the abandonment I had felt when they had first left. I held him tighter—not like he noticed—and breathed deeply, inhaling his scent. Vanilla, hay, and some scent I couldn't place that sent a thrill through me filled my nose, swirled around in my lungs, and I loathed to exhale and lose the mixture of smells that was Jasper Ha—Whitlock.

"We should leave," Peter said from behind me, and then the door opened and Jasper stiffened.

"I agree," Jake's tense, angry voice shot towards me and I sighed before inhaling deeply once more and stepping away from Jasper.

"It is getting late," I conceded, smiling first at a shaking Jake—who scowled at me—before turning to the three vampires who were trying very hard not to slip into predatory crouches. I could literally see the internal debate going on in all of their heads. "Noon," I reminded them, and they nodded before disappearing through the back door and into the night.

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed!**


	5. Chapter 4

**Thanks for those who added me to alerts and favourited :)  
>Still no Beta, so all mistakes are mine!<strong>

**Disclaimer: NO copyright infringement intended! Stephenie Meyer owns all characters (except a few OCs). And, of course, she owns me. But not literally xD**

**PS I TOTALLY just realized I've been spelling 'Stephenie' wrong in my previous disclaimers ... xD so I apologize to any of those spelling nazi's who noticed and had a breakdown**

Chapter 4:

Someone was knocking on my bedroom door. Groaning and pulling myself out of unconsciousness I squinted at the clock. It was only five in the morning! After returning home last night at two I had lay up for a good two hours, tossing and turning and thinking of the situation I found myself in. Would Jasper tell the Cullens he had found me? Should _I_ contact the Cullens? Would they even _want_ to see me after two years? From what Edward had said, vampires were easily distracted. I wasn't sure how true that was, seeing how distraught Jasper had still been about everything, but I was afraid to see them and have them turn me away. After everything I had been through, I couldn't live through that. Not losing my family a second time. "The fuck do you want, asshole?" I called, my voice groggy with sleep as I fought away the fog of exhaustion. I hoped whatever Jake wanted it was important, or I'd kick him in the junk.

The chuckle that sounded from the other side of the door was definitely _not_ Jake's deep, raspy one, and I was instantly awake—well, half-awake. "May I come in, Bella?" Jasper asked, his voice as lovely—and southern—as always.

I hummed a 'yes' and focused on feeling acceptance and welcome, hoping it worked. I was too tired to even want to try to get my voice box to cooperate. When the door opened I figured he had felt my emotions—or correctly interpreted my vague noise of consent—and then Jasper stepped into my room. I forced one eye open and looked up at him balefully, focusing on my annoyance. His eyes, which had been a light honey-gold when he first entered, were visibly darkening by the second as he stood, breathing slowly and evenly, in the middle of my room. "What?" I grunted, letting my eye slide shut again.

"I apologize for wakin' you so early," Jasper said quickly. "I just didn't want you to freak out when you woke up for real and found your house infested with vampires."

Vampires? What? I sent him confusion—or at least, hoped I did.

"It's goin' to be sunny today," Jasper replied to my silent question. "And since Charlotte and Peter—and myself, if I'm honest—were lookin' forward to spendin' the day with ya, we…" he cleared his throat nervously. "We followed your scent here." Then he chuckled. "Jake was none too happy to see us on his doorstep at five in the mornin', let me tell ya."

I snorted. No, he probably wasn't. Not only was he being woken up before eleven on a Saturday, it was by three vampires. He was gonna be irritable until the scent of vampire left the furniture—if it ever did. I sent Jasper some amusement, and then some curiosity, hoping he realized I was asking what we would do today.

"I'm not entirely sure, there, D—Bella," he tripped over his words and I wondered what he had been about to call me. Ignoring my questioning emotions, he continued on. "You get to decide; we are, after all, guests in your home."

I sighed. I supposed that meant I had to get up, then.

"Oh, not at all," Jasper chuckled. "You sleep for as long as you wish; we'll find a way to entertain ourselves until you wake." A pause, and I was just drifting back to sleep when he spoke again. "Adam took Jake out today; I imagine to get him away from the house. And us," he added, and I could practically _hear_ the smirk in his voice. "Sweet dreams, Bella," he whispered, so quiet I wasn't sure I had heard him, and then he was gone.

~.:XoX:.~

I groaned at the sun filtering through my un-curtained window and blinked myself awake. I really needed to get a curtain, I thought as I yawned and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. Tossing the covers off myself I rolled out of bed, forgoing slippers in my semi-conscious state. Stumbling across my bedroom I yanked open the door and then stepped across the hall to the bathroom. I used the toilet quickly and splashed water on my face, hoping to wake myself up some. Glancing at my hair in the mirror I determined finger-combing was acceptable and shuffled out of the bathroom, stretching and 'brushing' my hair as I headed down the hall.

I paused when I reached the end of the hall and saw the three vampires sitting in the living room playing cards. When did they get here? Then I remembered Jasper coming into my room and telling me they had shown up because of the sun.

At _five. O-freaking-clock. In. The. Morning_.

The three stopped playing and simultaneously turned to look at me. Charlotte and Jasper smiled in greeting, and Peter waggled his eyebrows. I started to feel embarrassed—I had gone to sleep in boy shorts and a too-small see-through tank top (which was now halfway up my ribcage because my arms were still raised)—before I realized they had already seen me half-naked and shrugged slightly. "Morning," I muttered around a yawn, turning to walk into the kitchen just as my stomach growled. I opened the fridge door and stuck my head in, looking for food; and when I pulled out the carton of eggs and turned around the three vampires were sitting at the table.

I jumped slightly, almost dropping the egg carton, but caught it, mercifully without spilling any eggs, and glared half-heartedly at them as I bumped the fridge shut with my hip.

"Good mornin', Bella!" Charlotte chirped happily, practically wriggling in her seat with happiness or excitement, I wasn't sure. "Did you sleep well?"

Her and Peter shared a secret glance that made a blush rise on my cheeks. "What did I say?" I had always talked in my sleep, and though I didn't remember my dream I _knew_ it had been bad.

"Oh, you know—" Peter grinned wickedly, "—just my favourite brother's name." He leered at me for a second before winking conspiratorially at Jasper, who shifted in his seat and studiously avoided making eye contact with me.

Oh. _Oh_. I swear my whole body blushed when I realized what they were implying. Oh fuck that was embarrassing. I wouldn't have thought anything of it, having a sex dream about Jasper—he was _incredibly _sexy, and I was alive and straight—but the fact that they all heard me. And Jasper probably _felt_ what I was feeling. Trying to brush off my embarrassment I turned to the stove. "Well, I don't remember it so it mustn't have been very good," I told them glibly, faking nonchalance as I bent to retrieve one of our cast-iron pans from the cupboard beside the stove.

Charlotte giggled. "Judgin' from the noises you were makin', it was very, _very_ good." I heard a deep sound, kind of like the engine of a motorcycle, and her giggles cut off abruptly.

Turning, confused, I saw the three of them sitting innocently at the table—though Charlotte had moved from her spot beside Jasper to the other side of Peter, and was semi-cowering against him. "What was that?" I asked.

"What was what?" Charlotte asked sweetly. Too sweetly.

"You know very well _what_," I huffed, then rolled my eyes and turned back to making my breakfast. "Stupid avoiding-the-question vampires," I muttered under my breath, knowing full well they could hear me.

"If you must know," Peter said as I pulled down a soup bowl and picked out an egg to crack into it, "Jasper growled at her."

In my surprise I smashed the egg down too hard on the edge of the bowl, causing the shell to splinter and the egg to spill out all over the counter and my hand. "Shit," I grabbed some paper towel from the roll hanging above my head and began mopping up my mess. "Why did you growl at her?" I directed at Jasper as I moved to the sink to wash my hand.

"Because she was bein' obnoxious," Jasper replied smoothly.

"Because she was _embarrassin'_ him," Peter countered. I turned just in time to see Jasper's eyes go pitch black as he punched the cheeky grin off Peter's face. If Charlotte hadn't been there to catch him, Peter—and the chair he was sitting on—would have toppled to the floor. As suddenly as they had darkened, Jasper's eyes were once again back to a dark honey colour, and he smirked at his 'brother', crossing his arms over his chest.

"Alrighty, then." I shut the water off, dried my hands, and picked up another egg. "So, what's on the agenda for the day?" I cracked the egg perfectly and, emptying the egg white and yolk into the bowl, set the shell aside. "Since we can't go outside."

"We could watch movies," Charlotte suggested as I cracked another egg. "Do you have any good ones?"

"Yeah, but no new ones. You've probably seen all of them already."

"We could play cards," Peter suggested.

"I have other board games we could play as well," I added as I mixed the eggs with a fork I had grabbed from the drawer in front of me.

"What are you makin'?" Charlotte asked as I poured a dollop of olive oil onto the pan before dumping the eggs into it.

"Just scrambled eggs," I replied, grabbing the metal spatula from the container sitting on the counter.

Suddenly there were vampires on either side of me. "How do you make it?" Peter asked, leaning over my left shoulder.

"Is it difficult?" Charlotte asked over my right.

Jasper and I both chuckled at them. "It's probably the easiest thing I know how to cook," I replied, "aside from spaghetti."

"What's spaghetti?"

I raised my eyebrows at Peter. "You don't know what spaghetti is?" He shook his head and I turned to Charlotte, who also shook her head. "It's long, thin pasta noodles, on which people generally put tomato sauce and cheese," I told them. Looking back at my food I stirred the eggs with the edge of the spatula, moving them around so they didn't stick to the bottom of the pan and burn.

"What are you doin'?" Charlotte asked.

"I'm moving them around so they don't burn," I explained. "Haven't you had eggs before?"

"Not that I remember, and probably not like this," she replied.

"You don't have any human memories either?" I asked, feeling sad for her and Peter. They must feel so…lost, sometimes. I would hate if I forgot Charlie and Renée. Forgot all my human memories…Jake, Angela, my time with Edward—for as much as I scoffed at myself back then, if it weren't for him I wouldn't be who I was today. The rest of the Cullens. The wolf pack. So many other things I would hate to forget.

Charlotte sighed. "I'm more or less over it. Sometimes it would be nice to remember my human family, but…" she shrugged. "There's not much anyone can do about it."

"That's terrible," I told them, hoping they knew how sincere I was. When I became a vampire I could only hope that I kept my memories.

Whoa. Back the _fuck up_. What? Where did _that_ come from? _When_ I became a vampire? I lost that chance two years ago, if I ever had it in the first place. And after having vampires back in my life for less than twenty four hours—really, less than _twelve_—I suddenly think that option is a definite part of my future? Even if—and that was a _huge_ if—these three were willing to want to put up with me for all eternity, what was the point? I had nobody to share it with. Jake would hate me, and I could never see Renée again, not that I had really ever planned to. But that was besides the point. The point was, there was no point. To becoming a vampire. I no longer wanted Edward, if he had for some reason spent the past two years pining away for me; I had outgrown him the second he had left me in that forest. And even if, for some odd reason, I _did_ decide I wanted to spend all time alone, I would be putting anyone I lived with in danger from Victoria—for she was surely still out there somewhere. It had never been an issue of if she would attack, but when she would find me. Not, I conceded, that she would look too hard in a sunny city. But if these three vampires sitting in my kitchen were this far south, then she could be too.

But, a side of my brain I hadn't known was there countered, if you became a vampire, wouldn't you be less of a danger to those around you? Look at now; Jake could hold his own, but he'd be too worried about protecting you—and especially Adam—to watch his own back properly. And what if one of you was hurt? If Adam was killed because Victoria was coming after you? And how would you feel if Jake, your brother, was killed trying to protect you?

Fuck. Now I had a headache.

"Should they look like that?" Peter asked curiously, and I jumped, startled out of my thoughts. Looking down at the stove, I saw that my eggs were all but small chunks of charcoal sticking to the bottom of the pan. "Shit!" Frustrated at myself, for my confusing thoughts and for burning my food, I threw the spatula across the room, where it smashed—and broke—against the far wall. "Fuck!" I flicked the stove off and moved the pan to a cold burner to cool before I attempted to scrape the mess of my breakfast off it. "Gah," I groaned, pressing the heels of my palms against my eyes. My headache had quickly escalated to a full-on migraine. Squinting my eyes open against the sunlight pouring through the big window gracing the wall facing the street I saw Jasper, Charlotte, and Peter all staring at me, wide-eyed, confused, concerned and, if I wasn't mistaken, slightly scared.

That last emotion that may or may not have actually been there seemed _way_ too funny to me; three strong, fast, intimidating supernatural beings afraid of one small, clumsy, tired human. I burst out laughing.

"Are…are you okay?" Charlotte asked cautiously as Peter tensed at my sudden laughter.

Suddenly feeling exhausted I wiped the tears of mirth from my cheeks and sighed heavily, sinking to the floor. "No." I thought for a second about slumping back against the stove but decided it would be too uncomfortable so instead slumped sideways onto the floor, pressing my cheek against the linoleum. I heard what sounded like air hissing from a tire and figured they were arguing about something, too fast for me to hear; so I, in an effort to diminish my migraine, let my eyes slide shut.

My eyes shot back open when two strong arms lifted me up into the air; I gasped and flung my arms around Jasper's neck as he turned and headed out of the kitchen. "What are you doing?" I asked as he walked down the hall.

"You need time to process things," he said quietly. "Your emotions before…shit, even I had a migraine." I giggled and he chuckled once. "Do you need Tylenol or anythin'?"

I shook my head. "Wait." He paused with his hand wrapped around my doorknob; the other held me perfectly, caged safely to his cold-yet-somehow-warm chest. "Can I sleep with you?" Jasper was silent for a moment before I blushed, realizing what I had said. "I mean, can I sleep in the living room—on the couch?"

"Course you can, Bella," Jasper chuckled and headed back down the hall. "It _is_ your house."

I sighed as we entered the living room. Peter and Charlotte were wrapped around each other on the loveseat; they sat beside each other but there was absolutely no space between them. Charlotte's head was resting on Peter's shoulder, and her legs were flung across his lap, entwined with his. His one arm was wrapped around her waist, his thumb rubbing gently over her stomach, and the other hand was clasped tightly with both of hers.

"Do you want a blanket?" Jasper asked as he set me down on one end of the couch, pulling the throw blanket off the back of it when I nodded and settling it over me. "You good?" I nodded again and he sat beside me, leaving just enough room for me to lie down and still not touch him.

The thought that he didn't want me touching him sent an unpleasant feeling swirling around my stomach until I felt physically ill. On top of my migraine and the confusing-as-hell thoughts running through my brain—the two sides still arguing over becoming a vampire—I felt like complete shit. Probably looked like it, too.

Sensing my inner turmoil Jasper inched a bit closer. Not knowing what he was trying to accomplish by that I curled up in the fetal position, my head just touching his leg. Huffing in frustration he lifted my head and slid over a few more inches—placing his lap in the perfect spot to use as a pillow. Setting my head gently on his lap he settled his right arm against my arm.

The light from the window was shining into the room and I covered my face with the blanket, not wanting to ask Peter or Charlotte to move. Jasper brushed my hair from my face and then began running his fingers lightly through my hair. Sighing in contentment I shifted slightly, getting comfortable, before falling into a migraine-induced slumber.

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed!**

**PS I know it's been a little slow, nothing really has happened, but I promise things pick up soon :)**


	6. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: NO copyright infringement intended! Stephenie Meyer owns all characters (except a few OCs). And, of course, she owns me. But not literally.**

Chapter 5:

I was standing in the middle of a clearing in a dense forest. Tall trees surrounded me in a perfect circle about fifteen feet in diameter. The grass was tall and dense, stretching up to my knees, and wildflowers peeped up above the tall stalks in small clumps of deep blues and pale lavenders. The sun shone, creating colours—the green grass, brown from the trees, the flowers—so vibrant they hurt my eyes a little.

After a few moments of looking around I realized I was in the stretch of forest behind the Cullens' secluded mansion, just outside Forks. Although a part of me knew I was dreaming the other part—the bigger part—was highly confused. Why was I on Cullen property if they had left—no, abandoned—me two years ago?

"Bella!" I gasped as an extremely familiar girl stepped through the line of trees into the clearing, paying no mind to the way the sun made her skin sparkle as she skipped lithely towards me. She didn't stop until she crashed into me, her body hard yet somehow soft as she wrapped her arms around my waist. "There you are. Come on, everyone's waiting!"

I frowned slightly as I stared down at my former best friend. "Alice, what—" I broke off when Carlisle and Esme stepped through the trees as well, their calm waves of happiness offsetting Alice's out-of-control excitement perfectly.

"Are you ready, Bella?" Esme asked in that soft, motherly voice of hers, smiling as Carlisle hugged her closer to his side.

I could only blink at them, stunned. They looked so much more beautiful than I had remembered them; but perhaps it was just the sun.

"Bella!" A beaming Emmett and a half-smiling Rosalie—I was shocked; I had never seen Rosalie truly smile, and she was beyond beautiful—stepped out of the trees and came to a stop beside the two vampires I had considered my parents. "What're you hiding out here for? Jasper finally manage to scare you away?"

I swam in confusion as the others laughed at Emmett's comment. "As if he could," Alice replied, smirking as she flitted over to stand with the others. "If anything, _she'd_ have _him_ running." Then she winked at me. "But don't worry; it won't happen."

I was still confused about what they were saying—_why would I be scaring Jasper away? Why were they speaking as if we were together?_—when I was suddenly hit with a wave of emotions that weren't my own. Happiness, calm, love, trust, nervousness, hope, a small speck of anger and fear, all crashed over me and I gasped, falling to my knees as I drowned in the foreign feelings. I closed my eyes against the onslaught and buried my head in my hands—it felt like it would explode! But as soon as the emotions started they stopped, and I breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Opening my eyes and raising my head I realized the Cullens were gone, and I was alone once more.

A low rumbling noise that sounded very much like Wolf-Jacob sounded from behind me and I started turning with a smile—and then the most God-awful scent reached my nose and I gagged, clutching at my stomach as I dry-heaved again and again. It smelled like wet-dog, shit, and garbage, with an under-tone of nature. "You smell pretty rank too, you know," I heard, and I snapped my head up. There, clothed in nothing but cut-off jean shorts, his arms crossed over his bare chest and a disgusted-yet-amused look on his face, was Jake.

"Jake!" I scrambled to my feet and rushed towards him—and froze when he tensed and jumped back. "Jake?" I took a hesitant step forwards and he took a big step back, his body beginning to shake. "What's wrong?"

"Get away from me, you filthy bloodsucker!" he screamed at me, and then I gasped and clutched at my throat as it burned, a hundred times worse than any sore throat I had ever had. "I _hate_ you!" Tears were in his eyes and he began shaking worse; he was practically vibrating with anger as he glared at me.

I was shocked and confused and more than a little hurt. "What did I do?" But as I said it I felt something wet dripping down my chin. Looking down I screamed as I realized my front was covered in blood, my arms, shirt, pants, even my bare feet. I began hyperventilating as I tried to wipe the blood from my skin, but it only seemed to be getting thicker. Eventually it began to wipe away and my eyes shot wide as my skin began sparkling underneath the blood. I turned my arms over, speechless at the way my skin illuminated in the sun, as if I were made of millions of small diamonds.

"You're a monster." My head snapped up and I looked at the unfamiliar female standing beside me. She had long, waist-length, curly black hair. Her skin had probably been olive-toned before she became a vampire. She was wearing a thin white sundress that accented her subtle-yet-very-there curves. "You don't deserve him, you know." She spoke almost sadly, yet her smile was victorious and malicious even as it comforted. "You truly are evil, twisted. Soulless." Her voice was a soothing alto with a slight Spanish accent. "Look at what you've done to the one you call a brother."

She gestured and I turned my head to look at Jake, who was no longer shaking; he was kneeling in the grass, sobbing, cradling a mangled, bloody body in his arms. When I realized who it was I screamed and covered my mouth with my hands. "No!" I shook my head, denying it even as I gazed into Adam's lifeless, unseeing pale blue eyes. "I would _never_—"

"But you did." The woman spoke again and I turned back to her. "You made him watch as you tore apart and drained his one love, his soul mate." Then she genuinely smiled, and though at one time it would have transformed her face into a vision of beauty it was corrupted with evil, and she looked more like a devil. "But I always welcome the soulless, the absolute monsters of our kind. After all, I am Queen of the Damned." Her wind-chime laugh had an undertone of something that made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. "Come, Bella—join us." She held out her hand as Victoria materialized from the darkness of the trees and glided over to stand slightly behind her. "Revel in the dark side. After all, you've no one to live for now." When I frowned at her both women jerked their chins to something to my right. Turning, my silent heart cracked and shattered as Jasper, with sad, flat black eyes fixed onto mine, stepped into a pyre.

"No!" I jolted forwards, flailing madly to get to Jasper—to do what, I wasn't sure—and the momentum flung me out of unconsciousness. And off the couch.

Charlotte and Peter laughed as I landed with a painful thud on the floor. I opened my eyes—squinting gently against the light from the TV—and my unease was somewhat settled when I saw Jasper, alive (as alive as a vampire could be, anyways), peering around his knees at me with concerned eyes.

_Damn! Empath!_ There would be no escaping telling him about my nightmare. What I could remember of it, anyways, which was little. All I knew was that some creepy vampire chick was in it, I had drained Adam, and Jasper had stepped into fire.

"You okay?" Jasper asked quietly, and immediately the two vampires stopped giggling.

Not wanting to answer questions I forced the negative emotions down, letting my slight embarrassment and the slight discomfort from sleeping on the couch—and his lap—take front and centre. "I'm fine," I smiled at him, and then yawned. "Just a little sore; sleeping on a couch is _not_ all that fun." I closed my eyes and stretched my arms over my head, arching my back slightly to get the stiffness out. "Did Jake and Adam come home yet?" I asked as I rolled onto my stomach and shifted onto my hands and knees, stretching like a cat.

Peter chuckled at something—my eyes were still closed—and I felt the stirring of the air beside me. Someone must've left the room at vampire speed. "No, but they did call. Said they'd be back by dark."

"Okay." I opened my eyes and shifted so I was kneeling, my butt resting on my feet. "Where'd Jasper go?" I raised an eyebrow at the two giggling vampires still entwined on the love seat.

"He went hunting—he doesn't have as much control as he'd like to," Peter replied, and then they both burst into a fresh round of giggles.

I knew he was talking about my blood, but for some reason felt a blush creep across my cheeks and neck. "I'm gonna go have a shower and get dressed," I said, stumbling to my feet. "Sorry for falling asleep on you," I added as I walked down the hall.

"No problem." I jumped when Charlotte was suddenly in front of me, leaning against the wall beside the bathroom door. "We watched a movie and made idle conversation." I nodded and stepped into the bathroom. "It's not like you were asleep long anyways," she continued, following me into the bathroom before I could shut the door in her face. "Only a few hours."

"What do you think you're doing?" I asked as she hopped carefully onto the counter. "I need to shower."

"I know." She smiled. "I thought we could have some bondin' time."

"While I shower?" I asked incredulously.

She looked at me like I was demented. "Yes," she said, nodding slowly like she was talking to a five year-old. "Can you think of a better time? Peter won't be able to hear us that well over the shower, and Jasper's gone."

I conceded with a confused nod and fished a clean towel out of the shallow closet beside the shower. "I suppose so." Setting it on the toilet I flicked the water on. "What do we need to talk about that's so important it couldn't wait until we had the chance to kick the boys out?" I asked, curious, as I adjusted the temperature to very-warm. I'd forgotten how chilled sleeping on a vampire could make you; my cheek and neck were cold.

"You like Jasper." I thought about denying it but my blushing and slightly-faster heartbeat gave me away before I could even open my mouth. So, curious as to where this conversation was headed, instead of getting into an argument by saying 'no' I nodded. "As you might know, Jasper's past is…" she hesitated for a moment and I cut in.

"I don't know how Jasper became a vampire." I turned to see her nodding slowly. "We hadn't been close before, because Edward didn't want me near him," I explained.

"Yeah, I can see that," Charlotte shook her head and snorted as I began undressing. "Edward always was overprotective of people he cared for."

"So you think I'd have been fine with Jasper?" I stepped into the tub and pulled the curtain closed, intrigued. The Cullens had all thought he hadn't had good enough control to be near me; perhaps it was her diet that made her think differently. But then, if Charlotte thought he'd have been fine, why had Peter said he didn't have enough control just thirty seconds ago?

"Well, maybe not _fine_, per se," Charlotte replied, and I could hear the smile in her voice. "But you would've lived, definitely. Anyways, we're off-topic!" I heard a clap as she, most likely, slapped her hands together. "You like him. And not as an ex future brother-in-law."

"Yes." I tipped my head back to make sure all my hair was wet before I washed it. "And?" I reached for the shampoo and squirted some on my hand before she answered.

"Just…be careful." She was so quiet I almost couldn't hear her over the water. "Jasper hasn't considered himself worth anythin' since…well, in a long, long time. And if he falls in love with you, he'll do it with everythin' he's got. So if you don't think you can handle that, you'd best walk away now." She was silent but I knew she was going to say more, so I stayed quiet. Even if I had _wanted_ to say something I didn't think my voice would work. Love? Was that where this was going? This pull I felt towards the blond vampire I hadn't seen in two years, the vampire that had, essentially, ruined any kind of future I had envisioned with Edward? And could I handle that? No doubt being around the three would bring back memories of the Cullens—would I be able to live through experiencing losing them again? I almost hadn't survived the first time. And, even if I could, there was the problem with Victoria. Would I risk them, risk him, for the slightest hope of a happy-ever-after?

Yes. I knew I would. I was selfish, and I felt horrible for it, but there was no other option. I would _not_ be able to give any of them up now, even just for friendship. I hadn't been close to anyone but Jake and Adam in over a year, and Jake was always too concerned with protecting our backs to really let loose and have fun.

"And if you _can_ handle that," Charlotte snapped me out of my thoughts, "then you need to prepare yourself to get turned into a vampire. Because he _won't_ let you go. Not after losin' so much."

"I would never ask him to do that," I said before even thinking about it, but I felt it with all my heart. "To let me go. Jake will hate me for it, but I've always felt I was meant for more than this. Than being human. I don't exactly know how to describe it, but…" I took a deep breath and willed her to believe how sincere I was being. "If I have any chance of a happy ever after I'm taking it, even if it means turning my back on humanity."

Charlotte laughed slightly at that. "You can keep your humanity, Bella," she told me quietly. "Even if you become a vampire, you don't lose it. Not unless somethin' truly terrible happens." My mind flashed to my dream, to the vampire that had held her hand out to me. "Not that it will; we'll protect you with our lives. Whether Jasper decides to love you or not." She laughed louder. "Whether you like it or not, Bella, we're your family now, and we're not gonna let you die on us. Naturally or otherwise." The promise—or threat?—of being turned should probably have made me angry—she was, after all, taking any choice in the matter out of my hands—but all I felt was a swell of love for the three vampires. They thought of me as family, too. Or at least, Charlotte did. Unexpected tears stung at my eyes, and I blinked them away, embarrassed even though Charlotte couldn't know I was about to cry.

I gasped in surprise when the water suddenly turned cold. "Damn it!" I shouted, jumping out of the way.

"What happened?" Charlotte's voice was immediately on the other side of the curtain. I was glad she left me some kind of privacy and hadn't just flung it aside—or ripped it down, about which Jake would not have been happy.

"Water went cold," I replied, grimacing and ducking my head under it to finish washing my hair.

By the time I quickly washed my body and shaved I was shaking almost as badly as Jake when he was angry. When I turned the water off and pushed the curtain aside—too cold to even care about what Charlotte did or didn't see—Charlotte had the towel ready, held up and open so I could step out of the tub and wrap it around myself. "T-thanks," I chattered, and she giggled before leading the way out of the bathroom.

"So," Charlotte said as she flopped onto my bed. "What are we goin' to do this afternoon?"

I pushed my door shut with my foot and headed to my dresser, still shivering slightly. I needed a sweater! "Not sure." I gathered clothes to wear—underwear, bra, jeans, tank top, and sweater—and paused.

"I can close my eyes," Charlotte rolled her eyes, giggling as she flopped onto her stomach and buried her face into my pillow.

Dropping my towel I slipped on my underwear and jeans. "You can open your eyes now," I told her, turning so my back was to her as I slipped on my bra.

Just as I snapped my bra in place I was spun around. I almost fell over but two strong, vampire hands held onto my upper arms. Adrenaline pumped through me at having a vampire so close—her face was inches away and I could feel the coldness of her body radiating over my skin. "Where'd you get the scars?" she asked quietly, looking down at my stomach.

She let me step away from her and I wrapped my arms around my torso, hiding the worst of the scars. It hadn't even occurred to me that she would see them—that they _had_ seen them earlier, when my shirt rode up. Memories of that day flashed to the front of my mind and I winced as I recalled the pain I had felt—the searing fire engulfing my stomach and part of my chest. I had imagined that was how vampire venom would feel. "It was a while ago," I hedged, picking up my shirt.

"I'll tell you about mine if you tell me about yours," she replied.

"What?" I blinked at her. "I thought vampires couldn't get scars."

Charlotte's eyes went wide and she was actually speechless for a second. "You mean you _never_ noticed Jasper's scars? Our scars?" She pushed the sleeves of her sweater up to her elbows and held her arms out.

I shrugged and stepped closer, leaning in slightly. "No. Though I _did_ think it odd he only wore long sleeves." I took her hand and she let me twist her arm from side to side—I didn't really see anything. Maybe humans couldn't see them?

"Your eyes might not be able to see 'em," Charlotte confirmed my thought. "But you can feel 'em."

Nodding I ran my hand up her arm—and froze. Her skin was slightly raised in spots. Finding a very raised spot I traced the outline of the scar. It was a crescent shape, and slightly uneven, not something a weapon would make. It almost felt like…

"Who bit you?" I asked, my blood running cold. "Why would they _do_ that?" I dropped her arm and looked at her.

"Newborns," she spat, rolling down her sleeves. "Because vampire venom is the only thin' that leaves a mark."

"Newborns? As in recently turned vampires?"

Now Charlotte looked flabbergasted. "Those fuckin' Cullens never told you about _newborns_? And they were gonna turn you?" She let out a roar of frustration and I could tell she wanted to break something.

Taking a careful step backwards—in case she went mental and broke _me_—I shook my head. "Why, should they have?"

I jumped when my bedroom door suddenly slammed open. "Fuck yeah they shoulda told you about fuckin' newborns!" Peter yelled, looking twice as angry as Charlotte.

I was panicked for a minute—I was in a confined space with two _very_ aggravated vampires—but then I decided that if _I_ stayed calm, maybe that would help them. "Okay, so why don't you tell me about newborns then," I said in what I hoped was a calm and soothing voice.

Still looking angry, the two flopped onto my bed—and the legs broke. _Nice_. "Sorry," Charlotte looked sheepish for a moment before rage took over again.

"It's okay." I leaned against my dresser. "So, newborns?"

"Right." Peter nodded. "So, a vampire is never more dangerous than they are in the first year of…life," he snorted at the last word. "Because of the human blood still lingering in their veins. They're faster, stronger, more agile—if they're properly trained. Newborns are also unpredictable. One minute they could be having a calm conversation with you, the next they're trying to rip your head off." He smiled wryly and rubbed at his neck—had that happened to him before?

"But why would you have a bunch of bites from newborns?" Then it clicked. "Someone was making _armies_ with them?"

They nodded. "A newborn army of ten could easily destroy an army of fifteen or even twenty older vampires—if they know what they're doing."

"And obviously someone taught them," I replied. "So what did you guys do to get involved in a fight with a newborn army?"

"That would be Maria." I jumped slightly and turned to look at Jasper, who was leaning against the doorframe. A shot of dread raced down my spine at the name.

"Who's Maria?"

"My sire." Jasper moved to sit beside Peter. "Before I continue this story—for it really is mine to tell—" he shot a look at Peter and Charlotte, who smiled sheepishly, "—I need to be sure that you can handle this. It doesn't really have a happy ending."

"Whose story does?" I rolled my eyes. "I want to know your story, Jasper. And yours," I added to Peter and Charlotte.

"Well, then," Jasper smiled faintly and rubbed the back of his neck—a human gesture of nervousness I found endearing; he didn't even realize he was doing it. "I suppose the best way to start is by tellin' you that there are places in _our_—" he gestured to himself, Peter, and Charlotte, "—world where the lives of the immortal are measured in weeks or months, not centuries."

I nodded eagerly and shifted slightly, getting more comfortable. Peter and Charlotte were equally attentive, though I wasn't quite sure why; surely they had heard this before; had _lived_ it, if they had scars like Jasper's.

"To really understand _why_, you have to look at the world from a different perspective. You have to imagine the way it looks to the powerful, the nearly invincible…the perpetually thirsty. See, there are places in this world that are more…desirable. Picture, if you will, a map of the western hemisphere." He paused and I shut my eyes. "Now, imagine each human as a red dot on that map." He paused again and I nodded impatiently. "The thicker the red, the more easily we—those of our kind who live that way—can feed. One could feed three, five times a night without attractin' any notice."

The word _feed_ should probably have made my skin crawl, but I was so absorbed in his story I merely felt irritated when he paused once more.

"Not," he added, and I opened my eyes to see him smiling sardonically, "that those in the South care all that much whether humans notice or not. They do, however, care if the Volturi notice. You know of the Volturi?"

I skimmed through the memories with Edward. "They're vampire royalty, right? And they enforce the rules of the vampire world."

"The _rule_," Charlotte corrected. "Which is, of course, not to let humans learn of our existence."

"But if vampires in the South don't care…"

"They may not care about humans, but they _do_ care about the Volturi swoopin' in and destroyin' them," Jasper replied. "If not for that, vampires would have been exposed long ago.

"The North is, by comparison, highly civilized; mostly just nomads who enjoy daylight just as much as the night, who interact with humans, without raisin' any suspicion, on a daily basis. It is, unfortunately, a _very_ different world in the South. The immortals there come out only at night, because they're spendin' their days either plotting their next attack or getting ready for their enemy's."

"But…why?"

"If you'd stop interruptin' me, I could get on with it," Jasper smirked, and I bit my lip and held my hands up in surrender. "There have been wars in the South, for centuries, without a moment of truce. Covens there notice humans no more than a human notices a herd of cattle on the side of a freeway—food. They only avoid spookin' the herd for fear of the Volturi."

I was _dying_ to interrupt again and ask '_why?_' but I knew better, instead sending Jasper impatience and curiosity. Chuckling slightly, he continued his story. "They fight for one thing, and one thing only; control of the thickest red on that map."

I frowned for a second before realizing there had been a _purpose_ for that map! And then my eyes went wide. That was…very smart of them. And sort of terrifying. Especially since we were _in_ the South.

"The most effective tactic to seize control of the best 'food supply' was invented by a young—by our standards—vampire named Benito. The first time anyone heard of him, he came down from somewhere just north of Dallas and massacred the two small covens coexistin' near Houston. Two nights later he took on the clans—much stronger, mind—that had claimed Monterrey in northern Mexico. Again, he won."

"And he fought using…newborn vampires?"

Jasper nodded. "He was the first to think of it, and at first, he was unstoppable. Of course, as newborns are as likely to rip apart each other as the enemy, he had to replenish his army often.

"The vampires in southern Mexico realized what was comin' for them—the army of newborn vampires—and did they only thing they could think of to defeat Benito; they created armies of their own…

"And all hell broke loose, in the most literal sense. Of all of vampire history there have been quite a few shady periods, but the Southern Wars will never be forgotten as the darkest. When both the human and vampire body count reached epidemic proportions—in fact, human history blames a disease for the mass deaths—the Volturi stepped in. The entire guard—" he looked at Peter. "There were forty?" Peter nodded. "—and all three brothers executed any and all vampires found with more than two newborns—and, as everyone had been tryin' to protect themselves from Benito, the South was empty of vampires for a short time. Those few who survived this…cleansin' of the South were so traumatized they had to be _put down_, if you will." He paused and placed a hand on Charlotte's shoulder, who I noticed was shuddering—in disgust, fear or pity, I wasn't sure. "The Volturi were frightenin' enough that the idea of conquerin' feedin' grounds usin' newborn armies didn't spread from the South.

"But when the Volturi went back to Italy, the survivors were quick to lay stakes—no pun intended—" I snorted at that, and Peter chuckled, "—on the South once more. It didn't take long before covens began disputin' again. There were many vendettas: against covens who killed mates or used dirty tactics to take over land, to name a couple. But the Volturi hadn't been forgotten, and the covens were more careful. Soldiers were recruited with more care, takin' those who wouldn't be missed, and were more carefully trained in the art of hidin' from humans. There were always a few exceptions, of course, a newborn that would go rogue, but those were dealt with quickly by their masters. They gave the Volturi no reason to return.

"The wars resumed, on a much smaller scale. Occasionally humans would grow suspicious, and the Volturi would take care of those covens, but they let the more careful ones continue…"

I snapped my mouth, which had been hanging open slightly, shut. "Is that…why you were turned?" I stared in shocked awe as the three vampires nodded once, in unison. "Holy…" I struggled to wrap my mind around it. The horrors they must have faced…and for Peter and Charlotte, to have had no memories of happier times to console them… "That fucking sucks."

Peter snorted, Charlotte giggled semi hysterically, and Jasper nodded. "Yeah, it really does." He half-smiled at me before running his hand through his hair—another subconscious human trait he had picked up from his time with the Cullens—and continuing with his story.

"When I was human I lived in Houston, Texas," he intoned, and I sat straighter, more alert. This was what I had been waiting for; his story. "I had just turned seventeen when I joined the Confederate Army in 1861—I lied and told them I was twenty." He smirked slightly. "I was tall enough to get away with it…

"I rose quickly through the ranks, because of what I had thought was charisma but I now know was somethin' more. By the first battle of Galveston—well, skirmish really—I was the youngest major in Texas, and not even using my real age." His smile turned nostalgic and I felt pride well up in me; he must have been so brave; it had to have been intimidating, being in a war, not to mention he was lying about his age. And to be major…

"In 1864 I was leadin' an evacuation of women and children from Galveston," his smile disappeared and his voice grew sombre; I knew we were getting near his unhappy ending—or beginning, I supposed. "It was dark and I was headin' back to base. A mile outside the city I happened across three young women on foot. At first I had thought they were stragglers, and immediately dismounted to offer aid, but when I saw their faces in the moonlight…" he sighed, "they were the most beautiful women I had ever seen.

"I remember marvellin' at their pale skin; even the youngest, whose features clearly indicated Mexican, was like porcelain.

"'He's speechless,' the tallest girl said. Her voice was like alto wind chimes. Her skin was like fresh snow, her hair a pale gold.

"The third was blonder still, her hair almost white. Her face lit up in ecstasy as she leaned towards me, her eyes half closed, and inhaled deeply. 'Mmm,' she had sighed. 'Lovely.'

"The smallest one, the brunette, put her hand on the girl's arm and spoke quickly. Her words held bite to them, but her voice was so soft, so musical. 'Concentrate, Nettie,' she said. I had always been sensitive to how people related to one another, and I knew immediately that she, though youngest, was the one the others deferred to. In the military, she'd have outranked them.

"'He looks right—young, strong, and an officer…' the brunette paused then and I tried in vain to get my voice to work. I was awed at their beauty and confused at their conversation. 'There's something else,' she said slowly, taking a small step forward. 'Do you sense it? He's…compellin'.' The other two had nodded eagerly and the one she had called Nettie made to step towards me. 'Patience,' the brunette grabbed at her arm again. 'I want to keep this one.' Nettie frowned, seemin' annoyed, but stepped back and fell silent.

"'You'd better do it, Maria,' the tall blonde spoke again. 'If he's important to you. I kill them twice as often as I keep them.'

"At that a warnin' tingle shot up my spine, and my instincts told me to turn and run and not look back—but I was a born-and-raised southern gentlemen, and I was taught to never run from a woman—oddly frightenin' as they may be.

"'Yes, I'll do it. Take Nettie away? I hate havin' to watch my back while I'm tryin' to focus.'

"The two nodded and, takin' each others hands they whirled—I remember bein' awed at how graceful they were—and sprinted towards the city, too fast for a human. Their white dresses flew behind them like wings, and when I blinked, they were gone.

"I'd never been superstitious in my life, never believed in ghosts and angels, but as I turned back to Maria, I was unsure.

"'What's your name, soldier?' she had asked, steppin' forward once more.

"'Major Jasper Whitlock, ma'am,' I had stammered, trying to be as polite as I could—even if she was a ghost, and especially if she was an angel.

"'I truly hope you survive, Jasper,' she had sighed, takin' another step forward. 'I feel that you will be of great use to me.' She took another step, and she was so close, and she angled her head like she was goin' to kiss me. My muscles were locked in place even as my brain screamed at them to run."

He paused for a moment before noddin' slightly in Peter's direction. "A few days later," he continued, and I knew he had edited; but whether it was for my sake or because Peter had 'asked' him to, I wasn't sure, "I awoke to my new life.

"Maria, Nettie, and Lucy. The three hadn't been together long—Maria had rounded up the other two. They were all survivors of recently lost battles, and were aimin' to make an army to retaliate. They were more careful than usual, Maria's idea I later learned. She wanted a superior army, so she sought out soldiers and other humans she thought had potential. She gave us more attention than other coven leaders, taught us to fight, to be invisible to humans. When we did well, we were rewarded. When we misbehaved, we were disposed of.

"There were five others when I was drafted into Maria's army, all male—Maria wanted 'proper' soldiers."

"Then why was…?" I glanced at Charlotte.

"Maria needed rewards that could be reused," Charlotte spit bitterly, and Peter wrapped an arm around her waist. "She didn't want to deprive the humans of all their women."

I felt sick. I well and truly was going to _hurl_ on my bedroom floor. Jasper and Peter's scars were from fightin'; for each scar, there was a dead vampire. Each scar was a trophy. But Charlotte's… "Sorry," I jumped up and raced to the bathroom as bile rose in my throat. I made it just in time; my throat aching as stomach acid scorched its way up and out, splashing into the toilet. Wiping my mouth I stood and flushed the toilet, tears brimming in my eyes as I reached for my toothbrush and toothpaste.

"You okay?" I tossed down my toothbrush and tackled Charlotte in a hug.

"Oh, _God_, Charlotte…" I sobbed into her shoulder and held her as tightly as I could. "If I could I would rip every single one of their dicks off."

She laughed hoarsely, her arms squeezing me gently before easing off. "Thank you." Her voice cracked like she was cryin' but her eyes were dry when we pulled away.

I wiped my tears as we stepped back into my room; Peter and Jasper were sitting exactly as we had left them, though Peter's mouth was pulled down and his eyes shone with anger, and Jasper's jaw was clenched. "Sorry about that," I muttered as we resumed our spots. "Continue," I smiled encouragingly at Jasper and sniffled gently.

"Since we were all male we fought more—over food, over rewards, over _blinkin'_ the wrong way—" he and Peter snorted at that, "—so I fought my first battles against my comrades. I was quicker than the others, better at combat; Maria was pleased with me, with my progress, and I was rewarded often. Blood, mostly. It made me stronger, and eventually she put me in charge of the other newborns—almost a promotion. Under my care, casualties decreased drastically, and our numbers swelled and levelled out at twenty.

"This was considered a huge success—so many newborns workin' so well together. My power, as yet undefined, worked subtly and allowed us all to cooperate better. Even Nettie, Lucy, and Maria were workin' together more easily.

"Maria grew fond of me, grew to depend on me in a way. And I worshipped the ground she walked on." He grimaced. "I knew no other way of life, and looked to Maria as an angel amidst the darkness and gore of the fightin'.

"I was eager to prove myself when she decided we would re-claim her lost land, and when we set out we had twenty-three highly skilled and unbelievably strong soldiers. We crept down to Monterrey, her former home, and she unleashed us. We defeated the eleven-vampire army easily, losin' only four; an unheard-of margin of victory.

"Victory made Maria greedy, and it wasn't long before we were attackin' other cities. In two years her control extended to cover most of Texas and northern Mexico. Of course, others began comin' up to dislodge her." He was staring off into space now, and runnin' his thumb absentmindedly over his sleeve, tracing patterns in the scars underneath.

"The fightin' was…intense. Of the original twenty-three I was the only one to survive the first eighteen months. We both won and lost, but mostly won. And when Nettie and Lucy turned on us, well, we won that too.

"It began quietin' down somewhat; the idea of conquest was fadin', bein' replaced with vengeance and minor feudin'. So many had lost mates, which is somethin' we never forgive…" My mind skipped to Victoria and I snorted, thinking just how true _that_ was.

"Maria and I always kept a dozen or so newborns on hand, just in case. They were little more than pawns to us; when they outgrew their usefulness, that year mark, we disposed of them.

"There was one newborn that survived to his third year, against all odds. He was one annoyin' fucker, though." Jasper shot a smirk at Peter and Peter stuck his tongue out at him in return. "He was assigned babysittin' duty over the newborns."

"It was a full-time job," Peter interjected.

Jasper's lips lifted quickly before turning sombre again. "And then it was time to purge again. Maria had us take the newborns aside, so as not to scare the others, you see. Peter tried convincin' me some were worth keepin', but at that point I only listened to Maria—though I _was_ sick of killin' and fightin'. My gift works both ways, see; I can influence others' emotions, and others' emotions influence me. I could feel their fear, their pain, as I ripped them apart. If they were still conscious when the fire started, I could feel them burn." I shuddered at that. "About halfway through, I could tell Peter was gettin' weary of disposin' of the newborns; I was just about to tell him to get lost when the next victim came out. A female who had more than outlasted her time frame as a reward; she was prettier than most, and the others liked her, so Maria had kept her around longer." Peter ran his fingers through Charlotte's hair comfortingly and I knew who they were talkin' about.

"Peter's emotions went frantic when he saw her; fear, nervousness. Protectiveness. Love, lust. He yelled for her to run, and then bolted after her. I could easily have caught up with them, but didn't. I felt…averse to destroyin' Peter. Maria was irritated at me for that…

"Ten years later, Peter returned for me. It was good timin', too; Maria's emotions had began takin' on a malicious, suspicious edge to them…the same emotions that had forewarned me of Nettie and Lucy's betrayal. I had been preparin' to destroy her, the core of my existence, the only thing tetherin' me to anythin' remotely resemblin' sanity.

"He told me of life outside the wars, life with Charlotte. In the decade since they'd left, they hadn't fought a single battle, though they'd met others. There was no fightin' in the north, he said.

"He had me convinced almost immediately, though I was somewhat of an ass to him at first," Jasper shot an unapologetic grin at his pseudo brother, which Peter returned enthusiastically. "I was relieved I wouldn't have to kill Maria. I'd been her companion for longer than Carlisle and Edward have been together. But when you live for the fight, for the blood, the relationships you form are fragile, easily broken. I walked away without a backward glance.

"I travelled with Peter and Charlotte for a few years, but I was still in a downward spiral mentally. The emotions of those I killed were beginnin' to haunt me. I didn't want to kill, I _loathed_ to kill, but what choice did I have? Eventually I left Peter and Charlotte. They were civilized, yes, but didn't feel the aversion I did to killin' humans. They only wanted peace. I tried goin' longer and longer without feedin', but after more than a century of instant gratification, of over-indulgence…I found control challengin'. I've only recently begun gettin' a handle on that.

"A few months after that I was in Philadelphia. There was a storm, which didn't bother me, but I had been receivin' strange looks from humans—I wasn't wearin' a jacket. My eyes were dark enough that nobody would notice the red tinge, so I ducked into a tavern.

The nostalgic smile was back now. "She was waitin' for me, of course." He chuckled once. "She was sittin' at the bar; as soon as I walked in she hopped off her stool and walked over. I was wary of her actions at first; I was anticipatin' an attack of some kind, but her emotions were somethin' I had never felt before; happy. And she was smilin'.

"'I've been waitin' for you,' she said.

"I, being the southern gentleman I am, ducked my head and apologized. 'I apologize, ma'am,' I said.

"She held out her hand then, and I took it without a second thought, without stoppin' to make sense of who she was, what she wanted. For the first time in over a century, I felt somethin' other than malice, hate, bloodlust, and pain. I felt hope." He sighed and was silent for a long moment.

"Alice told me of her gift, of the visions she had seen of Carlisle and his family. I couldn't believe such an existence was possible, but she made me optimistic. So we went to find them.

"And that's my story," Jasper concluded his tale with a shrug and a small smile.

"Whoa, there, Major! You're forgetting an important part," Peter clucked his tongue admonishingly.

"What part?"

"It's nothing," Jasper ducked his head. If he had been human, he would've been bright red.

"Well, now I definitely wanna know!" A smile spread across my face when Peter shoved Jasper and turned to me.

"Jasper's the most badass mother-fucker _ever_," he said proudly.

I frowned. "What do you mean?"

"In the human world you have people in history who _everybody_ knows, because of something they did, right?"

"Sure; Hitler, Caesar, Genghis Khan…" I shrugged. "Your point?"

"Jasper is one of those people in the vampire world!" Peter exclaimed.

My mouth fell open and I turned to an embarrassed Jasper. "No way!" I squealed. "What did you do?"

"He was only the scariest, most badass warrior in the Southern Wars," Peter replied when Jasper merely glared half-heartedly at me. "Though most vampires only know him as the Major." Peter shuddered slightly. "Trust me, you do _not_ want to meet him."

"Uh…what?" I furrowed my eyebrows.

"Vampires have two different…personalities, if you will," Charlotte explained after forcefully closin' her mate's mouth. "A more humane side, the side most of us live with on a regular basis, and our vampire side. The animalistic, primal, base-instinct side. Jasper is Jasper's humane side; and the Major is his vampire side. Get it?"

I nodded slowly. "So the Major isn't someone I'd want to encounter in a dark alley."

"Or on a sunny street in the middle of Florida," Peter interrupted. "The Major doesn't give a shit about anythin' or anyone; just fightin' and winnin'."

"The Major was my…dominant side durin' my time with Maria," Jasper rolled his eyes, finally—albeit reluctantly—chimin' in. "That's kind of how I…not really _justify_ what I did, but…how I live with what I've done." In less than a second he was standin'. "But the Major's been locked away for a _long_ time, and he's never comin' back. I don't know why you even felt the need to bring him up." With that he turned and stomped—thankfully not puttin' holes in my floor—out of the room and down the hall.

I tried not to laugh at Peter's over-dramatically affronted expression; his mouth was open wide, his eyes poppin' slightly, and his hand was over his heart.

"He _is_ rather touchy, isn't he?" Peter asked finally, jerking his head towards the door Jasper had disappeared through.

"I can hear you!" Jasper called, just loud enough for me to hear.

"That was the point," Peter replied in a sing-song voice.

Charlotte giggled as Peter cocked his head to the side slightly and then jumped up and flew from the room—obviously in response to somethin' Jasper had said. "Come on; let's go rein them in before they destroy your livin' room." We stood and she linked her elbow through mine. "They may have been alive for over a century but I swear they regress to five year old girls when they're around each other."

Gigglin' at the sudden image of Jasper and Peter wearin' dress-up clothes havin' a tea party, I let Charlotte lead me down the hall to save my house from the two immature vampires.

**A/N: I borrowed some (most) of Jasper's story from **_**Eclipse**_**, Chapter 13**

**Also, I realize this was a **_**long**_** chapter; over 7k! I apologize to any who were frustrated (or bored) with the length**


	7. Chapter 6

**Oh my gosh I am SOO SORRY it's been so long! I just lost track of time with life and school and I know it's a crappy excuse! When I happened to be on fanfic the other night and realized just how long it'd been I rushed to write this, it's probably NOT the best it could be and it's not even 3.5 K words but I felt so bad making you all wait so long! SO without further ado...**

**Still no Beta, so all mistakes are mine all mine!**

**Disclaimer: NO copyright infringement intended! Stephenie Meyer owns all characters (except a few OCs). And, of course, she owns me. But not literally xD**

Chapter 6:

Once we managed to get Jasper and Peter to act their age—losin' only an end table and a few magazines in the process—the day passed highly uneventfully. On more than one occasion I would feel one of them lookin' at me, most likely tryin' to figure out why I wasn't screamin' and runnin' from them after their story. I just honestly didn't see it as that big a deal; what they had gone through, they hadn't had a choice. Jasper had even said they hadn't known there was another way of livin'. And how in the world could I be frightened of Charlotte for her past?

"I'm bored," Peter whined, for the fifth time in half an hour. We had taken turns picking movies—girls, then guys, and now us girls again—and in an effort to punish them for ruinin' my end table (it had been a really pretty end table!) Charlotte and I had dug through the cases of DVDs to find the girliest movie I owned: Gone with the Wind. It was merely an ironic—and hilarious—coincidence that the movie was set durin' the Civil War.

"Just stop your whinin' and watch the damn movie," I snapped at him.

There was a long moment of silence, and when I glanced around all three of them were lookin' at me with surprised expressions.

Rollin' my eyes I grabbed the remote and pushed 'pause'. "What are y'all lookin' at?" I asked impatiently. "I'd really like to get back to the movie."

"You're talkin' with a southern accent." Charlotte's statement came out as more of a question.

I huffed out a breath. Oh. _That_. "Well, I have this thing where I imitate accents if I'm around them for any extended period of time," I explained. "And watchin' this movie doesn't help any." I shrugged. "I don't know how to stop it; I'll start talkin' like normal soon. Maybe."

More silence. "That," Peter said slowly after a long minute, "is so _weird_ and _awesome_!"

"I actually find it highly annoyin'," I huffed. "Now can we _please_ get back to the movie?"

"Yes, let's," Charlotte nodded and took the remote from me. "I rather like this movie."

"No!" Peter yanked the remote from Charlotte—bein' careful not to crush it—and turned back to me. "Say somethin' else."

"I am not gonna speak just so you can have a few giggles."

"Please! Just once!" I shook my head and crossed my arms over my chest; Charlotte huffed in impatience and rolled her eyes at him. "But it's so awesome!" Peter whined. "Jasper, bro, back me up here!"

Jasper—who was busy tryin' and failin' to wipe the amused grin off his face—put his hands up in surrender when Charlotte and I both turned to glare at him. "I am _not_ gonna get in the middle of this."

"Good," Charlotte reached over and patted the top of his head twice before turnin' to look at Peter. "Now, baby, give me back that remote or I'll be forced to withhold from doin' that thing that you like, you know, the one where I—"

"Okay!" Peter shoved the remote into Charlotte's hands and we all laughed at his embarrassed and repentant expression. "I'm sorry, Char, just _please_ don't—"

"I won't," she smiled sweetly at him before winkin' conspiratorially at me. "The only way to train a guy is to find a sex position he _loves_ and threaten to withhold it from him."

My cheeks were beginnin' to get sore from laughin' so much. "I'll be sure to remember that."

"Yes!" Peter jumped up, dislodgin' Charlotte from his lap, and fist-pumped the air. "She spoke!"

"Oh for the love of—" I turned to Charlotte. "If you would be so kind," I looked pointedly at her hand and then gestured to his head.

She smiled and nodded. "It would be my pleasure," she giggled, and then smacked him in the back of the head. "Now, on with the movie?"

"Please." Ignorin' Peter's grumblin' about us gangin' up on him we turned back to the TV.

Peter provided a very sullen—and highly amusin'—commentary through the whole movie about how unfair we were and how Jasper was a cold-hearted bitch for not comin' to his aid. There were only ten minutes left of part one when he began insultin' Jasper; I was quite surprised that Jasper had yet to punch him in the face. "You are _so_ pussy-whipped and you're not even gettin' any," Peter hissed at him after a few minutes.

"He's gonna be gettin' more than you if you don't shut your _goddamn_ mouth this _minute_, Peter Whitlock," Charlotte's voice was drippin' in sweetness.

"Yes, ma'am," Peter grumbled, and then let loose what was probably a string of expletives—he said it too low and fast for me to hear.

When at last part one was done I stood from my spot on the couch between the vampires—Charlotte was sittin' on Peter's lap—and turned the TV and DVD player off. "I'm sick of movies," I declared, and Charlotte made a noise of displeasure—probably at the fact that we wouldn't watch part two.

"Well then, what do you wanna do, Bella?" Peter asked.

I thought for a minute. "I'm not really sure," I said slowly, "We could play cards, or I have monopo—hey!" My hands went to my hips and I glared at the now-gigglin' Peter. "Y'all are just tryin' to get me to talk so you can hear my accent!" In clichéd girl fashion, I stomped my foot.

"Uh-oh, someone's in trouble!" Jacob's laughin' voice echoed down the hall; after the whole day of bein' surrounded my southern accents, his voice sounded odd. I glanced towards the doorway to the livin' room as he appeared around it, Adam right behind him. "She only ever stomps her foot when she's getting ready to beat on someone. Not," he added, chucklin' as he set the bags he held on the floor, "that she would do harm to anyone—least of all you guys." I shot a smile at him, proud at his attempt at friendliness.

"Yes, Peter Whitlock, you _are_ in trouble," Charlotte stood and copied my stance, hands on hips and feet braced slightly apart. "What did I tell you about baitin' Bella so she'd talk?"

"I'm sorry!" Peter jumped up. "I just couldn't help it; it sounds like she's been speakin' with a southern accent her whole life, you know it's intriguin'!"

Jacob let out a loud bark of a laugh before she could reply. "So that's what this is all about?" He began laughin' loudly.

I wanted so badly to yell at him but _dammit_ my accent! I didn't want him laughin' at me.

"It is really interesting, actually," Adam piped up, steppin' from behind Jake to be included in the semi-circle we had formed. I wonder if he realized he was instinctively stickin' to Jake's side like glue; or if he was aware that his eyes were dartin' from one vampire to the other like a scared animal lookin' at a human with a butcher's knife.

"Should've heard her after we had a Harry Potter marathon," Jake stage-whispered to the vampires. "She was 'bloody 'ell'ing for weeks!"

Against my will amusement began leakin' through my irritation; Jake always _did_ do an absolutely terrible British accent. Jasper, sensin' this, sent me a smirk. I stuck my tongue out at him and let my hands fall from my hips.

"Hey, Bells, will you say something?" Jake turned to me. "I wanna hear you with a southern accent, just once."

"I'm sure if they—" Adam gestured to the vampires, "—stick around for any length of time, she'll constantly have one."

"No way!" Peter clapped his hands together with glee. "Sweet! So, my dear Bella, you gonna go without speakin' for the duration of our visit?" He smiled and winked at me.

And the irritation was back. They were all laughin' at me! I had half a mind to tell them all to go burn in hell and stomp off to my room, but the irritation wasn't deep-set; and beneath it I was laughin' with them. It _was_ kinda funny.

Or, it was until Jasper spoke up, chucklin' as he did. "Hey, Bella, why don't you just say somethin' and let them have their fun? Then we can all just grow up and move on from this."

My hands went back to my hips and I snapped. "I will _not_ speak just so they can have their fun!" I yelled. "I am not some side-show freak to be oohed and ahhed over, and I will _not_ repeat sentences on command like a fuckin' parrot! I have had enough with y'all teasin' me, and if y'all don't stop _right this minute_ I will kick you—" I pointed to the vampires, "—out of my house and I will stop cookin' for you!" I swung around to glare at Jake and Adam. Then I swung back around to glare at a surprised Jasper. "How's _that_ for growin' up and movin' on, Jasper Whitlock?" As soon as the anger had bubbled up it was gone, and I ducked out of the room before I could burst into laughter at their shocked faces.

I slammed my door shut for good measure, then raced on tiptoe to the wall and pressed my ear against it—for once glad I could hear whatever was said in the livin' room perfectly through my wall.

It was silent for what seemed like forever; and then Peter spoke in a quiet, almost awed voice. "That was really, _really_ hot." I blushed as I clapped my hands over my mouth to keep from gigglin'. "Does she do that often?" He was speakin' to either Jake or Adam. No, I thought, I didn't. And it wasn't fair to anybody how I had acted. I really should apologize.

"I have never seen her do that before," Adam replied.

"Is she still angry?" Charlotte asked, obviously directed at Jasper.

Jasper chuckled. "On the contrary; she's tryin' not to burst out laughin'." He paused for a moment as everyone let out 'What!'s and 'No way's. "She was never seriously upset, not until my comment." His voice grew apologetic. "Aside from that she was just vaguely irritated."

I heard a dull _thump_ and a muttered 'ouch'. "Well then you better go and apologize right now, Jasper Whitlock!" Charlotte spat, and my lips rose in a half smile. She always had my back; she was like my much older and much, _much _prettier sister.

"Yes, ma'am," Jasper chuckled, and then there was a knock on my door.

Jumpin' slightly—still not quite used to how fast they were—I hurried over and opened the door to see Jasper with his head ducked and his hands clasped behind his back. The stance reminded me so much of a little boy gettin' chastised by his mother that it took all I had not to burst out laughin' at him. "Yes, Jasper?" I asked, my voice laced with humour—and still that goddamn accent.

His eyes, which had been gazin' at his feet, flicked up and met mine from under his hair that had flopped over his face. "I am deeply sorry, Miss Bella, and I hope with all my heart that you can forgive me."

I nearly swooned at the full force of his southern accent and big, pleadin', repentant ochre eyes. I felt my lust—and embarrassment—rise and I took a few deep breaths to calm my emotions; Jasper's lips were twitchin' and I knew he was tryin' not to laugh at my inner battle. "There ain't nothin' to forgive, Jasper," managed eventually. "I was way outta line; _I_ should be apologizin' to _you_."

Jasper shook his head, his hair floppin' side to side. "No, Bella, I should be apologizin'; I shoulda known better than to bait ya like that; I knew you were startin' to get seriously angry. I shoulda told them to back—"

"Jasper Whitlock, you'd best stop apologizin' right this instant!" I interrupted, stompin' my foot for good measure. "I said there ain't nothin' to forgive and I mean it."

"But, Bella—" Goddamn his stubbornness!

"But nothin'!" I cut him off again. "And if you don't agree with me, turn around, and march your ass back into the livin' room I'm gonna have to ask Charlotte and Peter to beat you up."

Jasper's eyes flicked towards the livin' room—probably listenin' to somethin' Charlotte and Peter had said—and then shrugged and brought his right hand forward. I was confused as he reached towards me, as he took my right hand in his and raised it. There were no sparks of electricity when I touched him; nothin' close to the shock-like energy I had felt with Edward. There was just a glowin' sense of…peace. And lust.

Unfortunately, the latter emotion rose exponentially as he bowed slightly, pressed his lips to the back of my hand, and in his oh-so-sexy accent drawled, "Of course, Miss Bella; whatever you say."

We stayed like that for what seemed at eternity, Jasper smirkin' slightly against my hand as I tried to control my lust and not jump him; that wouldn't end well for either of us. Me because, well, he was a vampire, and Jasper because Jake would kill him for touchin' me any less innocently than he was now.

I was just about to give up and go have a shower—a very, very _cold_ shower—when I felt a wave of lethargy sweep through me. It was so strong that for a moment I blacked out; when I came to I was lyin' on the floor in my bedroom doorway, with a gigglin' Charlotte kneelin' at my head. "What—?" I leaned up on my elbows, tryin' to erase the sluggish, foggy feelin' from my head.

"You must've been sendin' off some pretty strong waves, there," Charlotte giggled. "I haven't seen that boy move that fast since our time with Maria."

"What?" I repeated. My head was clearin', and I was beyond confused. Where in the world had Jasper run off to?

"You done scared our good ol' Major off," Peter chuckled, appearin' at my feet. "Flew outta here like his ass was on fire."

I frowned at his shit eatin' grin and Charlotte's hysterical giggles. "I don't understand. What did I do?"

Peter rolled his eyes and huffed in frustration. "Your lust, you stupid human! Don't you remember what he said? Others' emotions influence him."

My cheeks and neck heated as I blushed bright red. Oh, _shit_. So not only was I mortifyin' myself with unrequited feelin's, I was makin' Jasper feel all hot and bothered. It really wasn't fair to him, and _had_ to be beyond frustratin' havin' no real…outlet. He had his hand, I supposed, but that couldn't be the same…I blushed more at thoughts of Jasper masturbatin' and pushed them far, _far_ out of my head. Realizin' the two vampires were expectin' me to say somethin', I managed a strangled soundin' "Oh."

"'Oh' indeed, little lady," Peter cackled

Charlotte rolled her eyes and shoved him for me—sendin' him skiddin' five feet into the side of my bed. "You are _such_ a loser," she sighed. "Come on, Bella," she added, and in less than a second was standin', her hand reached out to help me up, "let's go finish watchin' our movie."

"Deal!" I let her yank me up and then, joinin' hands, we headed down the hall to the livin' room.

"Oh, no way!" Charlotte cried when we walked through the livin' room to see Jake and Adam cuddled under a blanket on the loveseat watchin' TV. "Bella and I get dibs; we need to finish our movie!"

Adam gasped quietly and Jake growled when she skipped at top-speed to stand over the pair, her hands on her hips as she leaned threateningly over them. "Don't even think about it, leech," Jake hissed.

"Jake!" I stomped over and copied Charlotte's stance. "Don't you dare call my friends names! You take that back right now, mister, or so help me I will—"

"Okay, okay!" Jake interrupted and held his hands up in surrender. "I apologize! Geez."

"What movie were you watching?" Adam asked as Charlotte huffed and nodded once.

"Gone with the Wind," We all—well, Adam and I—jumped slightly when Peter suddenly spoke up from Charlotte's right side.

"Ooh, that's such a good movie!" Adam clapped his hands in excitement and turned to Jake. "Baby, can we watch it with them? Please?"

Jake sighed as Adam unleashed the full fury of his puppy-dog eyes; Jake _never_ refused the puppy-dog eyes. "Fine."

"Yes!" Adam cheered—even doin' a fist-pump—and then relinquished the remotes to Charlotte, who immediately flitted to the TV to change channels and get everythin' set up. "Can we start from the beginning again?"

"Sure, why not!" Charlotte beamed when Peter and Jake groaned. "Peter Whitlock you best sit your ass down on that couch and if I hear so much as a _sigh_ outta you I am gonna—"

"Okay, I get it, no complainin'!" Peter grumbled, throwin' his hands in the air and shufflin' like a petulant child towards the couch. "Good God, woman."

"I see you've trained him well," I snorted as I settled on the far end of the couch.

"It only took four decades," Charlotte sighed, winkin' playfully as she sank onto the cushion beside her mate. "We all settled?"

"Absolutely!" Adam replied enthusiastically.

"Sure," Jake sighed, placin' his arm around Adam's shoulders.

"If I must," Peter grumbled.

"Yep." I smiled at Charlotte and, noddin', she pushed 'play'.

~.:XoX:.~

"You go change it. I got everythin' set up."

"No way! Jake, you do it."

"I don't fucking think so, I didn't wanna watch the damn movie in the first place."

"Adam?"

"Not likely."

"Peter, you go do it."

"No way in hell, woman! I'm with Jake on this one."

We all glared at each other. I could practically _hear_ Adam and Charlotte tryin' to will someone with their minds into switchin' to part two so we could continue our movie.

"Jasper will do it!" Peter declared loudly. Charlotte nodded enthusiastically and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Deal!" Jake cheered.

"What am I doin'?" Jasper walked around the corner into the livin' room and leaned against the wall, smilin' slightly as his eyes flicked around the room. Jake and Adam were still huddled under the blanket, smilin' innocently now but I would wager a _lot_ they had been doin' somethin' under that blanket. Peter and Charlotte's barely concealed giggles and little side glances had been enough to all but confirm my suspicion. The two vampires were on the other side of the couch, Peter cross-legged with Charlotte sittin' in his lap. And I was curled up on the couch, wrapped snugly in a blanket.

"Switchin' our movie to part two," Charlotte replied. "Please?"

Jasper sighed, rolled his eyes, and walked to the TV. "Why couldn't one of you have done it?" he asked, amusement thick in his voice. "What would y'all have done if I hadn't come home for hours?"

"We'd have sat here until you got back," Charlotte told him.

"Is it bad that that doesn't surprise me in the least?" Jasper chuckled, steppin' back from the entertainment centre. "There you go."

"Watch it with us!" Peter half-begged. "If Jake and I are gonna be subjected to this horror, you should be too."

Jasper smirked and raised an eyebrow at his brother. "Why? I ain't got a lover who can threaten me with no sex if I don't." Then he shrugged. "Besides, I rather like this movie."

"Of course you do," Jake rolled his eyes. "You get to relive your glory days when you watch this."

"On the contrary," Jasper replied, flittin' over to the couch and ploppin' down between me and the two vampires, "I relive a century of war the likes of which you couldn't imagine in your darkest nightmare. I'm just a closet romantic."

There was a moment of strained silence—for now that Jasper had brought it up Peter and Charlotte were thinkin' of their time with Maria, and now _I_ was, too—and then Adam cleared his throat. "Shall we—shall we get on with the movie?" he asked tentatively, as Jake's expression twisted momentarily with apology. Jasper nodded his head—agreein' with Adam or acknowledgin' Jake's silent 'sorry', I wasn't sure—and Charlotte pushed 'play'.

**A/N: Hope you enjoyed :)**


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